The Grimm of Beacon
by Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh
Summary: Salem well knows the importance of having Huntsmen on her side. That's why she decides to send her only male Half-Grimm son, Noir Callows, to Beacon, where he would become a Huntsman and possibly convert others to her cause. Armed with the weapons she gave him and with the new name of Jaune Arc, Noir will have to face the hardest of challenges: Ozpin's Beacon Academy. Grimm!Jaune.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey everyone! I just wanted to say that this fic probably won't go too far. It's just an idea I had and now I'm trying to write a few thousands words on it. Also, I've just took part to a contest of short stories where the max limit was 5k words, so now I want to write more. I'm just passing my time like this.**_

The library was silent.

Normally, people would assume that libraries should _always_ be silent, but that happened only when there were actual _rules_ to back that up. When a library had no rules whatsoever, it became no more and no less than a room filled with books. However, that day the library was silent.

And the book was very interesting, too.

Not that he cared much about the book's contents anyway. It was just an excuse to stay alone and in peace. Besides, he had already read much about the anatomy of an Ursa. Just like he had read enough on basically every subject the library provided. Politics apart. He really hated formal subjects. He preferred subjects like the three races -those being faunuses, humans and Grimm-, fairy tales -his mistress _did_ tell him they were important, plus they were fun-, sometimes following his uncle's advice and reading materials like psychology or parapsychology. He had never been good at _those_.

The current book was about the humans conflicts with the faunuses.

He found the whole ordeal aberrantly stupid and born from a prejudice so abjectly racist that it made him sick. Humans and faunuses were both people. And besides, humans could've been defined as faunus without any _visible_ animal part, so there shouldn't even have been a racial distinction. If the Grimm didn't differentiate between human and faunus, then why should they humans do it? Surely humans were more intelligent than Grimm... right?

The book said otherwise.

Of all the battles and wars against the faunuses, he specifically couldn't understand the ones to force them into Menagerie. Apart from the outrageous name, whose synonymous was "zoo", the island was simply inhospitable. Two thirds of it were deadly desert, scorching hot at day and freezing cold at night. The remaining third... was definitely overcrowded. Despite not housing a single human, Menagerie was too small to contain such an amount of faunuses. He suspected humans had forced the faunus there just to gather them where they could be hit easily.

Why would humans exterminate faunuses, he didn't know.

With a sigh, he flipped a page. That wasn't the time to question humans' decisions. The wars were over, although the racism wasn't, and among his great powers -like living, breathing, speaking, eating and so many more- there wasn't time travel. He couldn't do anything about the wars. What really ticked him off was that humans still acted like they were in the right. Even after the White Fang had turned into a terrorist organization, even after the bloody fights that occurred almost daily across Remnant, the humans were still keen on faulting the faunuses for everything. Besides, it wasn't like they had a _choice_ in being a faunus or not.

Faulting them for being faunuses was like faulting someone for being human. It wasn't just pointless: it was idiotic. He would really have liked someone to explain him why the humans treated the faunuses like that, but all the answers he had gotten were vague or dismissive. Racism was just there, without a reason and filled with blind stupidity, but unfortunately it was there. He had read that one of the most steadfast "supporters" of the racism was the Schnee Dust Corporation.

Maybe that was why his mistress disliked Dust so much.

He couldn't bring himself to deny the fact that the SDC -or at least the SDC's owner- _was_ one of the worst racists he had ever heard of, if the rumours about the faunus extreme exploit were anywhere near the truth. But at the same time Dust was a useful material, deployed in both military and everyday use. He seriously doubted all those Bullheads and airships were completely Dustless. And as for the military, basically every single Hunstman used Dust-infused weaponry. His dad was no exception, just like his two "uncles" and his "aunt". He knew they actually weren't related, but since they were significantly older than him and he saw them often, he had got used to calling them so... although not in his father's presence. Dad wouldn't have allowed it.

Dad was like that.

He continued to read with a bored expression. The interest had come to an end around an hour before, and now it was just another book about violence and pointless massacres. A reading worth of a Huntsman... if only it hadn't been on such a stupidly bloody subject. He really couldn't understand how people could claim that the Grimm were the greatest threat, while it was obvious that interracial wars, crimes and accidents killed just as many. The Grimm killed people, but at least they did not steal, cheat, betray, lie or rape. They were simple: kill humans and faunuses. The people, on the other hand, were completely unpredictable. They could be offering a tea one day and stabbing in the back the following one.

One could almost see the Grimm as the better race.

Almost. The Grimm were not cruel nor merciful at killing, but they killed. It was just that. They. Killed. People. On the other hand, while among them there might have been not the best individuals, people could also be greatly helpful. They could protect, love, defend, heal, repair, build, work, and many other things. Huntsmen and Huntresses were _people_ , they weren't Grimm... although there _was_ the rumour of Grimm so powerful to be considered the Grimm version of the Hunstmen, but it had never been confirmed. Obviously. If Ursai and Nevermores could kill even experienced Huntsmen, then just how powerful would a Grimm-Huntsman be?

The answer was _crazily so_.

The clock on the wall signed eight o'clock.

He sighed in relief. Finally he had something to do. Sundays were always like that. Everyone would be gathered in the main room, leaving him to eat on his own. Not that the others ate: they discussed their plans for the future. He scrambled on his feet and put the book back on the shelf, knowing that his mistress would simply _exterminate_ him if he didn't.

"Finally", he replied, calmly. He wasn't in a hurry, after all.

With a sigh, he exited the library and left the hundreds of volumes behind, his steps echoing in the empty corridors. _'Why have such a large mansion, if then it's always empty?'_ , he asked himself. Probably it was just a habit of the ones who could afford to waste space. He and his family surely could.

It took him very little to reach the kitchen. Usually he would've dined in the dining room, but since it was Sunday, he would arrange himself in the kitchen and good riddance. Taking some cheese and bread, he sat down to eat, shifting to find a comfortable position. His wings didn't really help. They were tall and wide, and he couldn't exactly fold them under his shirt. That would've hurt like Hell, although his wings didn't exactly have _bones_. Or rather, they had, but it wasn't like he couldn't repair any damage with just a little bit of concentration.

He sighed. Why was all of it so damn difficult? Why couldn't his family just have stools instead of chairs? Or at least let _him_ sit on a stool. Having three-yards-wide wings wasn't exactly the best when one had to sit on a normal chair. Especially so when said chair was more similar to a throne than to a real chair.

He sighed again. Dinner had always been a very lonely matter on Sundays. He began nibbling the cheese idly, not really hungry but knowing that if he didn't eat he would be hungry later. He had the evening for himself, although it wasn't a really exciting knowledge. He would probably end up studying in the library or having a walk and fight some Grimm. The normal Sunday-evening routine he had gotten used to through the years.

Except that this time, his father entered the room while he was in the middle of his dinner, looking dead serious for a chance. Nervous, even. And that was something completely out of the ordinary. The day Tyrian Callows wasn't his usual cheerfully crazy was the day he'd never thought he would see. The faunus's long scorpion tail was twitching nervously behind him, and his yellow eyes were scanning the room as if searching for threats, something utterly absurd since Salem's fortress was the last place in Remnant where the man could find an enemy... except for his own colleagues, of course.

"Come with me", his father whispered warily. "Our Mistress desires to speak with you".

His eyes widened. Salem wasn't the kind of woman to wish to speak with anyone outside her loyal underlings. Especially because she wasn't a _woman_. She might've resembled a woman, but she was something completely different. She was the Scourge of Humanity, the Devouring Dark, the Queen of the Grimm, the Dark Maiden. The very creatures of Grimm were named after her.

In just two words, she was his mother.

Silently, he rose from his seat and nodded at his father, following him in the main hall. Tyrian was strangely quiet, not even giggling or talking to himself, and guided him through the myriad of corridors flawlessly. He followed just as quietly. It would've been the first time he saw the others during one of the their meetings.

"Why should Salem want to see me?", he asked, frowning when his father didn't reply. "She never did".

The man continued to ignore him as the two of them made their way to the main hall. Despite what someone could think, the fortress wasn't filled with Grimm. Most of them swarmed outside, an indistinguishable mass of black skin and white bones. He grimaced at the sight. The Grimm were so similar to him, and yet so different. They were mindless beasts with no choice but to kill. He pitied them. Where he had free choice and free will, the normal Grimm were no more than pawns ready to die... although he knew he was considered just as much. Maybe not a pawn... maybe a champion of Salem, but expendable just the same.

As they passed through a room, he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror.

His own skin was whiter than snow, but his hair was as black as the darkest night, and his eyes were as bright and red as his mother's. A small crown of black spikes of bone symbolised his royalty. On his back, powerful black wings were folded, unused, against his back. From his forearms protruded two twin blades of black bone, that reached out his elbows and past his hand, making them useful weapons similar to his father's twin axe-katars. He was wearing a black shirt with a night-sky blue jacket and black trousers with high boots. His father had always told him that the boots were important... although his father had also always told him that sleeping upside down hanging from the ceiling was important. Not that he'd ever tried.

Tyrian was crazy like that.

As they arrived in front of the door of the main hall, he was surprised by his father, who spun around and gripped his shoulders so hard it hurt. "Do _not_ disappoint the Queen", he whispered. "Never!".

He frowned and nodded. Tyrian was never so serious... except during training. While training -or fighting at all- he was a giggling mess but always serious. And dangerous. "What am I supposed to do?".

"Just agree to whatever she says, and accept whatever she says", said his father, eyes narrowing. "But always tell the truth, even if it's an unpleasant truth. She will see through any lie. Always".

He nodded. The basic rules of living in the Fortress of Salem. He had memorized them long ago. Even if Salem was theoretically his mother, and biologically too, she was still his mistress. She was his boss. To her, he was her son only when it came to genes. In any other case, he was a pawn like the others.

Tyrian gave him one last glance before pushing open the large wooden doors and entering the main hall. Without waiting for him to follow, he hurried to his seat and crouched on it, waiting for Salem to give him orders, like he always did. He wasn't exactly the strategist of the four servants of Salem. Of course they weren't the only ones, but they were the most loyal ones. And the ones who had served her longer.

"Enter, child", said Salem, a vague hint of amusement in her voice as she caught scent of his nervousness. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions".

He bowed low and entered, barely avoiding to flinch as the doors closed behind him. Without speaking, he walked forward until he standing right in front of the table, and so in plain sight for everyone. He didn't sit, instead standing upright stiffly and waiting for orders.

"I've heard that you want to become a... Huntsman", continued Salem, and from the faces of Watts and Hazel, they were clearly against the idea. He could understand Hazel: the man had lost his little sister because of her desire to become a Huntress, but Watts was new. He was usually against the ideas of Cinder, but not against the ideas of Salem. "As you surely know, everyone but me here _is_ a Huntsman or a Huntress. So I'm sure you can guess I'm not against the idea itself".

She frowned. "And it's also true that another Huntsman... it could help our cause. We have so few good Huntsmen in our ranks. And with the powers you already possess, you would make for a very remarkable Huntsman". He responded to her with a frown of his own. He didn't understand where the conversation was going. "But we also have to consider that you are you. You are a Prince of the Grimm, and that _could_ influence your training as a Huntsman". She smirked, although her sarcasm was terrible. Being the Queen of the Grimm didn't leave much time to practise with something like sarcasm.

"Nonetheless, we agreed for you to choose. If you're ready to face the risk of being discovered, and thus killed, then you'll be free to train and become a Huntsman _officially_. But...". Her smirk widened and took a vicious edge. "If you don't wish to risk your life pointlessly, Tyrian, Hazel and Cinder can continue your training, and they'll make a warrior out of you".

He frowned more. Becoming a Huntsman would've meant leaving the fortress and - _finally_ \- seeing the rest of the world. He had been told how to act and all the laws of the humans, but he'd never actually _seen_ the cities outside of books and -sometimes- movies or pictures from Emerald's or Mercury's scrolls. Yet again, was it worth the risk? Being found out meant death, either straight on the battlefield or after a long torture. The title of Prince of the Grimm didn't come with invincibility. But becoming a Huntsman...

"Milady, if I can speak freely... I wish to be officially trained to become a Huntsman", he said nervously.

Both Hazel and Watts scowled at that, Tyrian just giggled maniacally, but Salem seemed pensive and amused. "Is that so? Very well, child, your answer was honest".

She smirked malignly and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, after five more minutes, she deemed him nervous enough to speak. "Your wish will become reality. I will have Watts handle the bureaucracy". The doctor frowned at the new, and maybe that was why he was against the idea. "You'll have to decide the school you want to attend, child. But for now, I need you to take your human form".

He frowned. He wasn't really used to his human form, but he obliged nonetheless. No one stood up to the Queen. Or rather, no one stood up to the Queen and _survived_ to tell about it. In a blur of dark mist, the Grimm essence disappeared from him and he was back to his human self.

His boots were, honestly, the only thing that remained unaltered. His trousers were now of light blue, his shirt was white and his jacket sky blue. His skin lost its pearly white shade and assumed a more lively shade of pink. His eyes weren't of a fiery red any more, now of a cerulean azure, and his once black hair was now golden locks that partly fell on his eyes. His wings, like his crown and the spikes on his arms, disappeared in a mist of darkness.

"Since you will need a weapon to become a Huntsman, and you won't be able to use your more natural power, I had Watts forge you an armour and your weapons". She gestured to the man to show him the weapons, something he did with evident displeasure. Well, not completely displeasure. He was also evidently proud of his work.

The man stood up and walked up to him, taking his left arm and making him wear something very similar to a bracer. When he finished putting one on, he moved on to the other arm, where he made him wear a twin bracer. Both of them were pure white with golden rims. As he continued to frown at them, unsure of what to do with them, Watts pulled out a chestplate and forced him to wear it too, followed by a pair of greaves. Idly, he noted how all the armour was white with golden rims. They surely wanted to take attention away from his "darkness", so to speak. When he finished, Watts stepped back and nodded at Salem.

"This is our gift, child. Do not waste it". Seeing his confusion, she smiled. "We know you've been trained by Tyrian. So, we decided to give you a similar weapon".

Watts picked up something else and walked up to him, consigning it to him. It looked like a sword, with relative scabbard. Both were pure white with golden rims or, in the sword's case, a golden hilt and azure cloth on the handle. He eyed them for a while before Watts showed him how to activate the scabbard. When he did, it unfolded into a kite shield, bearing a strange insignia of a double crescent on it, gold on white field. He swung the sword a couple of times to test its balance, of course finding it to be perfect, before nodding to Salem.

"Of course, in case you had to acquire your natural form, those weapons would be too recognizable, so Watts made a few modifications to them". Salem smiled unpleasantly. "Go on, child, assume your natural form".

He nodded. It was so easy to let the Grimm in him reach out and take over part of himself. The dark mist enveloped him against for just a second, and he was back to his Grimm self. But this time he was different. He had no natural spikes on his arms, but instead a pair of black blades, both with silver rims. They protruded from his elbows of twenty or so centimetres, and another thirty from his hands. He frowned. _That_ was a remarkable work. He didn't even know how in Hell had Watts been able to do such a thing. Probably with the help of Salem. His clothes were different, too. Now his armour was black, and it covered his shoulders, too, just like his greaves now ended in vicious spikes, useful and painful. The whole set had silver rims, just like his normal armour had golden ones. He frowned once more.

"I... Thank you for this gift, mistress", he said, knowing that he had to thank not the crafter, but the Queen. Watts didn't seem to notice it and instead returned to his seat in silence. "I shall use them wisely".

"I don't doubt that, child", said Salem, letting a small smirk reach her face. "But now, I won't hold you any longer. I'm sure there is much you still have to do. Watts, go with him. Since you will be the one to fill out the forms, it would be better for you to go with him".

With a nod, the man stood up and walked out of the room, quickly followed by him.

#####

The two walked in silence until they reached the kitchen once again, where they arranged a very quick dinner. Watts was his favourite person after Hazel, but at the moment he looked bothered by something, his brows furrowed thoughtfully. After dinner they walked back to the library, where Watts found an atlas -not the kingdom, of course- and opened it on a table, gesturing him to come closer.

"You see, this is Remnant", he whispered. "Given your age and skill level, you should have no problem attending one of the Four Academies. Beacon, Atlas, Shade and Haven for Vale, Mantle, Vacuo and Mistral".

"I have to choose one, right?", he asked, frowning. The kingdoms of Remnant looked all the same, seen by the map. "Which one is the best?".

"It depends on what are you looking for", replied Watts, shrugging. "Atlas has the best technology. The highest danger is Beacon, but it's probably also the best one. Ozpin is there".

He shivered. Ozpin, the man who dared stand up to Salem. The man who could resist Salem. His name was of course known to him. And it was infamous. "But you said it's the best one?".

"Beacon has always been known for its efficacy... although it's not unexpected, since Ozpin is the Headmaster". Watts caressed his moustaches and sighed. "Yes, I'd say it's the best one. I will forge some transcripts for you. Tomorrow you, Emerald and Mercury will go to Vale. They will leave you as soon as you start Beacon".

"But you said I was good enough to attend it normally", he noted. "Why forge some?".

"There are some exams to be accepted into Beacon. And not all of them are combat ones", replied Watts, flatly. "A couple of them in particular are medical exams and blood samples. I'm sure you don't want them to find out something _strange_ in you".

"Ah". Realization dawned upon him and he nodded. "Okay. So we go tomorrow. How do I get to Vale?".

"Emerald and Mercury will go on Grimm", replied Watts. "Given your motion sickness, I think it would be safer for you to just fly on your own. But now, let's stay serious for a few seconds. What is it that you have _not_ to do?".

"Reveal my true identity", he immediately replied. "Reveal my mother's identity. I would say reveal this palace's location, but unfortunately I don't know where I am, so that's not a problem. That's about it, right?".

"Yeah. Remember: we don't give a damn if you cause a ruckus there, but give away your mother's identity, and you are dead not by their hands, but by ours". He nodded. "Now, we'll need to get you a new name".

"A new name?".

"Of course. Noir Callows can be a nice name for you, but it would be better for you to just have a new name. Make up a story for yourself". He winked, uncharacteristically for him. "You get to decide your past life. Make up whatever you want. And get a new name".

"What name should I choose?", he asked, frowning. "I mean... how do I choose?".

"Oh my God, is it really so difficult?". He massages his temples. "Your sisters would flay you alive to get the chance to get a new name, and you don't know what to choose?".

"And what would _you_ choose for yourself?", he asked, unamused. "Enlighten me".

"You and sarcasm clash like fire and ice, boy. As for me...". He smirked and the boy knew he already had the answer. "I already went by false name. One of the most recent ones was Jonathan Arc".

He looked pensive for a second. "Jonathan Arc, uh? Well, since you're my uncle...". His smirk matched Watts's. "I will go by the name of Jaune Arc".

 _ **My first foot note!**_

 _ **Now, I have to say this: I'm in doubt. I'm a dedicated Arkos fan, but right now I'm in doubt! I'm not sure if it would be better (for me to write, of course) to write an Arkos or a Lancaster story. (btw, why is it called "Lancaster"?)**_

 _ **I beg everyone of you to help me out with this. I can assure you, it's not to increase reviews: I know some people like to have high review rates, but I really don't care. I could have zero or a million reviews and I wouldn't care. But the content is important. So if you're willing to lend a hand to a poor young writer in doubt, please do.**_

 _ **You can of course ask for other "Jaunex?" ships... but they won't sail. Stop. I can understand attraction, but I'm mentally unable to write a JaunexYang or a JaunexBlake. Or other ships like those. I can write of attraction but not of actual ships. Besides, JaunexYang is just a big, fat "no". Too many blondes!**_

 _ **And if there is some merciful soul among you all and they want to leave a review, I would of course be happy to read your opinion as for**_ **why** ** _would a ship be better than another! I was considering Lancaster only because Ruby is cute._**

 ** _Just. For. That._**

 ** _Let me know... or ignore me. Whichever you want!_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Okay, so this is chapter 2. Since I still haven't decided for the ship, I'll just write some of both. For the time being._**

 ** _I really hope you'll enjoy, since this chapter has so far costed me six hours of sleep. Not that I forced myself to write it or something like that! It's just that I really passed hours trying to write it better or in a slightly different way. As you may have noticed, I like to keep long sentences and have some thick paragraphs, but that's just because I'm me. I wasted hours trying to improve this chapter's structure, but in the end the first draft was the best bet._**

 ** _Ironic, huh?_**

Pyrrha Nikos was oh so _not_ having a good day.

Despite her serene expression, actually, the poor girl couldn't wait for the day to end. It had been one of those long, agonizingly boring and repetitive days that could bring even the sanest of people on the brink of madness.

She had woken up at seven, due to the lack of a training schedule while in Vale, and enjoyed a normal Mistralian breakfast... although she was definitely in Vale. She wasn't used to change her eating schedule, and so even after moving to Vale, she had continued with her normal schedule of when she was still in Mistral.

A typical Mistralian breakfast was a cup of tea and a slice of pie or a small sweet. _Her_ typical Mistralian breakfast was a cup of organic green tea and a fruit, usually an apple. Her agent had always insisted on the importance of a healthy diet, and who was she to argue? She was a fighter, not a dietician. And if she got things her way, she would never be a dietician. Even just the word sounded terrible, without even starting to speak of the job itself.

After breakfast she had gone through her normal training routine for free days... that meant she had trained straight up until lunch. Her muscles were sore for the six hours straight she had had to endure. She usually trained a lot less, due to various appointments filling her day, but that day was a free day, and that meant training day. Her agent always insisted how keeping herself in shape was important, or she'd lose the extreme skills she had gained through so much hardship. Unlikely, or at least unlikely in the case she skipped part of the training. After all, even though she was a renowned champion, it was mostly thanks to her Semblance that she was the "Invincible Girl".

That didn't mean she could just relax or at least do something different from training over and over and over again. It wasn't even something varied. Every day it was always the same drills and the same techniques. Of course she had mastered her fighting style with a skill rarely found among her age. Thankfully, her agent had thought that her Semblance would've been enough to defeat any opponent, so she just had to keep herself in shape. She had actually met a few teenagers with a combat prowess actually better than hers, but her Semblance was hardly a fair advantage when it came to tournaments.

Her invincibility did nothing to improve her mood, instead dragging it even further down the path of sourness.

Just like breakfast, she had had lunch in the Mistralian way... in her agent's version of a Mistralian meal. Just like breakfast, it had been something healthy and without any chemical components, imported directly from trustworthy farms in Mistral. And just like breakfast, it had been decided by her agent who had consulted important dietician on the matter.

In the afternoon she had been free to wander in Vale, but in the end it went just like the other days.

She had been walking for a while now, idly enjoying the Summer's warmth as she wandered in the streets, and she'd half an idea of doing exactly that all day. The air wasn't too hot nor too cold, something really unusual for Vale, but she surely didn't complain. Unfortunately, it was evident that Fate had different ideas for her day. Unfortunately because she would've really liked to just relax all day.

Basically as soon as she got in the centre's square, however, she heard one of the sounds she feared most in the world. It wasn't the roar of the Grimm. It wasn't a skilled opponent in a match. It wasn't even the eerie silence of death. Instead, it was a single cry, a shout of recognition.

The sound of a fan.

Pyrrha Nikos, gifted warrior, young prodigy, incredible on the battlefield, was filled with panic. She briefly considered her chances. Case one, she remained where she was, pretending not to have heard the shout. In a case over a billion they would leave her alone. Case two, she acknowledged the presence of fans and signed all the autographs they asked, politely turning down the proposals and trying to reply vaguely and politely to all the questions. Case three, she turned tail and ran away from the danger, fleeing where the fans wouldn't find her, possibly where they _couldn't_ find her.

It took her just a second and a glance to the crowd in the square to turn and run.

#####

The Ursa roared in pain as a blade slashed his side open. Before it could attack, though, the fighter jumped and bashed their shield into its head, knocking it back before leaping over the fallen body and stabbing it with the sword, killing it. As the body began to smoke and disintegrate, the fighter looked around to see if there were more Grimm to slay.

A single Ursa Major answered their call by rushing into the clearing, roaring its anger and pouncing at the warrior, trying to skewer them with its claws. Unfortunately for it, the fighter blocked the huge paw with the shield and replied by slashing at the arm and immediately afterwards at the body of the creature, making it stumble backward. Without missing a beat, the warrior chased after the Grimm, ducking under a swing from a paw and slashing again at the body before doing a backflip to avoid another incoming attack. The Ursa roared again, but this time the fighter jumped over the claw and landed on the creature's shoulder and lifted the sword. With a neat cut, the Ursa was beheaded and fell to the ground, while the warrior jumped and rolled out of the way as it crashed down and began to smoke.

Falling back in an active guard stance, the fighter looked around to see if any more Grimm were coming.

From his position hidden among the trees, Noir Callows watched in silence. The fighter was good, really good. Of course they couldn't intimidate Grimm into submission, but that was something only a handful of people could do, him included. A slow smile spread on his face as he watched the figure continue their fight against three Beowolves. The warrior was skilled indeed. Their style was advanced and sophisticated.

Thanks to his training, he knew how to fight fairly well. His father Tyrian had trained him to use his natural flexibility and agility. His flexibility was the only thing he had inherited from his father, who was as bendable as a contortionist. His adoptive uncle Hazel had taught him how to use his Grimm strength to his advantage and how to avoid his adversaries using it at their own advantage. From his "aunt" Cinder he had learned humility and stamina, since she only trained him by beating him down. She was the most powerful of his family -after Salem, of course- and it showed.

The warrior -who was now fighting a couple of Boarbatusks- was nimble and fast, and their strikes held great precision. Noir hummed softly as he watched the fighter flip a Grimm on its back and stabbing it through the unarmoured belly. The other Grimm boar roared and rolled up in its characteristic spinning charge, but the warrior seemed unfazed by it. Using the shield to stop the creature, they then slashed at it until it died in black smoke.

Noir chuckled as the warrior readied themselves again.

Without warning, he jumped out of his hideout and met the fighter's attentive gaze. He almost chuckled again as they almost dropped their sword in surprise. He considered speaking, but he guessed that a humanoid Grimm had to be already enough for the warrior's poor mind. He tried and failed to guess what they must've been thinking, but he allowed himself a small smile as they readied themselves again. He could relate to perseverance... although Cinder usually called it stubbornness.

He took his time to study the fighter. She had long red hair tied in a ponytail behind her back, and the liveliest green eyes he had ever seen, although now they were narrowed in caution. She was wearing a leather and bronze corset and golden greaves, and in her hands there were a shortsword and a round shield. He had already seen how she could shift the weapon into a javelin and a rifle, just like he had seen her throw her shield with a precision that was simply impossible. He chalked it off as either something in the shield -having Arthur Watts as his "uncle" meant nothing was impossible for technology- or it was somehow related to her Semblance. There was simply no way someone, be it human, faunus or Grimm, could pull that off.

She narrowed her eyes and fell back in a fighting stance. Deciding to delay the talk for a bit longer, he activated the blades on his arms and was pleased to see them unfold into long-bladed katars without problems. Watts and Salem had to have worked hard on those. The warrior's grip on her weapons tightened as he drew his own, and then relaxed a bit.

"You're a Faunus, right?", she asked, still guarded but now a bit more open.

He raised a single eyebrow. Him, a Faunus? Yes, he had bird-like wings, but they were Nevermore-like wings! Plus no Faunus would have a crown of horns like he did. Still, he guessed that the thought of a humanoid Grimm using weapons had to be too absurd for her to even think about it. Not that he could fault her. He had had seventeen years to get used to it, while she had just seen him. "Nope. Not a Faunus", he replied cheerfully. "Try again".

She frowned. "Then... what are you?".

He thought about it. Watts had told him he could have fun in Grimm form and mess around as long he didn't reveal anything about his mother. Plus, no one would ever believe a girl who looked no older than he was if she started spouting about a talking Grimm. "A Grimm", he finally responded, deciding that even revealing his race wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass. A Beowolf had done it once and it hadn't been pleasant. Of course the Beowolf didn't survive the consequences. "Nice to meet you. What's your name?".

She only frowned more. "You're making fun of me. Grimm don't talk, and you look human... or Faunus".

"I'm a Grimm and I can prove it", he said, suddenly growling at the trees. She jumped into a guard stance, but he wasn't growling at her.

 **Come here!** , he shouted at the Grimm in the forest. **Immediately!**

"Watch out!", she exclaimed as a large Ursa burst out from the trees, only to stop when the Ursa crouched in front of Noir and accepted his friendly petting. "W-What?".

"I told you, I'm a Grimm", he repeated. He would've liked her to be a little more surprised, or interested, but the message seemed to get lost somewhere in the air between the two and his point didn't come across. "What else should I do to prove it?".

"No, there is no way you're a Grimm!", she said, shaking her head. "That must be your Semblance. Grimm Control or something".

It was his time to frown. _'Stubborn, eh?'_ , he thought with a grimace. "Fine. You don't have to believe me", he replied lightly. "Besides, I should really get going now. Oh, by the way, since I'm not some big bad Grimm who is controlling a freaking Ursa right now, would you care to tell me your name?".

She frowned back, but as she opened her mouth to respond a second Ursa burst forth from the trees and tried to attack her, effectively cutting her off before she could even start speaking. With a scowl, she jumped over the Ursa and hacked at it, beheading it in a single, quick motion. As the corpse fell, she looked around, but all she could see was trees and undergrowth. All signs of a black-haired, winged boy were gone.

For the rest of the day, she didn't found a single other Grimm to fight.

#####

Ruby Rose was really having a fun time. The Dust shop she'd found was well-stocked, but it wasn't the true reason for which she was happy. Sure, Dust was cool and awesome and all that, but Dust wasn't something so interesting, after all. It was just a bunch of differently coloured crystals, in the end.

Weapons, on the other hand...

Well, Ruby Rose was a renowned geek when it came to weapons. She loved every kind of slashing, piercing, smashing, hacking, suffocating, rending, slaying, bursting, shooting, eviscerating or devastating weapon. She really didn't care about the actual usefulness of weapons, as long as they were weapons. She loved to see new weapons, and not just new types. In her mind, two swords with slightly different designs were two completely different weapons. Any weapons was of her liking. While others liked weapons only "as long as they get the job done", she liked weapons "as long as they are dangerous". She was like that.

And that was why she was calmly reading a magazine about weapons at the moment.

The shop was basically empty. There was the shopkeeper, who was currently relaxing behind the counter, waiting for customers. Then there was a tall blond boy who was quietly reading a book in a corner. And finally there was Ruby Rose herself, certified cute little girl and uncertified troublemaker. Not that she _created_ trouble, but when trouble was happening nearby, you could be sure Ruby Rose would enter the fray, sooner or later.

She completely ignored them when five people entered the shop, four of them wearing black suits and red sunglasses, and the last wearing a white coat and a bowler hat. In his hand twirled a cane and he was smoking a cigar.

She completely ignored them when the five of them approached the counter, and one of the goons in black aimed a gun at the shopkeeper's head.

She completely ignored them when the guy in white ordered the others to take the Dust.

She completely ignored them when one of those guys told her to put her hands in the air.

After all, she was wearing headphones.

However, she did not ignore him when one of the goons forced her to turn and pointed a sword at her. Narrowing her eyes, she didn't do what a normal and sane person would've done in her place, and thus freezing and obeying. Instead, she charged the guy at a crazy speed and tackled him through a window and into the street.

Looking back, she saw that the other four plus the blond boy from the corner were looking at her from the shattered window. Smiling confidently, she took out Crescent Rose and unfolded it into full scythe mode.

At the window, the three goons in black exchanged worried glances of "what the Hell?!". The man in white drawled a perplexed "Okaaaay..." before ordering his thugs to attack. The blond boy, instead, cocked his head on one side and pressed his lips together, biting back a comment on overcompensating.

She didn't have to wait much before the first man reached her, but the guy's attempt to hit her was thwarted when she kicked him straight in the guts. The second goon held no more luck as he was instead knocked back by another kick. She smirked as she rushed forward and slammed him into the concrete ground, knocking him out cold with Crescent Rose's blunt edge. The third thug aimed a gun at her and began shooting, but with her Semblance nothing could keep up with her, and she just slammed into him before sending him into dreamlands with her scythe.

When she turned, she saw that the man in white had gotten the blond boy as hostage, and was holding the cane under his throat. She froze, not wanting to let him injure a civilian. The boy didn't have any kind of weapon to protect himself, and so it was up to her to ensure his safety. _'Ugh... couldn't he have remained out of the fight?'_ , she thought. _'No, I guess that guy captured him as he was trying to hide or run'_.

Her train of thoughts, however, was quickly interrupted as the boy smiled and winked at her, not in the flirtatious way Yang winked at pretty boys, but in the playful way Qrow winked at her when he said he wouldn't go too hard on her. To that day, he had always kept his promise. The boy just winked at her, and then drove his elbow into the man's stomach.

Sending him flying.

As she gaped in disbelief, the man flew back into the shop and the sound of something breaking came from it. The boy waved at her before turning and assuming a fighting stance. The man came back, this time pissed, and pointed his cane at them. The end of it opened and revealed some sort of barrel installed in the cane. A gun.

The man fired twice in a row, first at Ruby and then at the blond. Ruby parried the hit with her scythe, but still the Dust-infused bullet damaged the street and it hurt. The blond boy, instead, didn't have anything to protect himself with, so he just dodged it by bending backward to a point Ruby had never thought possible, and letting it vaporize a car parked nearby. _'Heads are going to roll for that one'_ , winced Ruby. _'That looked expensive'_.

When she looked around, however, the man was already gone. The boy seemed confused as well, and glanced at her with a puzzled look on his face that screamed "where the Hell did he go!?". She paid him no mind as he spotted the criminal climbing up an emergency ladder and reaching the rooftop. She ran after him, and behind her the boy followed suit. When she reached the roof, blond hot on her heels, the man just scoffed. "Persistent".

Ruby readied herself to attack, but a Bullhead rose from below the roof's edge and its lights blinded her for a second. Her, and the boy too. When she could see again, the man had already climbed aboard and was openly laughing at her. "End of the line, Red!".

And with that, he threw a singled Fire Dust crystal at her. Unsure of what harm could a motionless rock cause, she didn't immediately realize the danger as the criminal too aim with his cane again and fired at the Dust, making it explode. Fortunately for her, someone grabbed her and turned her around, shielding her from the brunt of it. When she looked at, she found the boy frowning at the criminal from over his shoulder. He looked unhurt, so she guessed he must've had Aura. No one could take an explosion and survive without Aura.

"What...?".

"You've got a weapon, I don't. If we have to fight, it's better for you to have as much Aura as you can", he said as he released her, checking over her once to see if part of the Dust had gotten past him. He then looked up at the man, who was laughing... until he stopped when he saw they were still standing and still ready to fight.

He scowled and aimed again, but this time the shot was parried by something else. A new combatant had entered the fray, and had generated a force field or something to block the bullet. The newcomer was a blonde woman who looked on her mid-thirties or so, and in her hand there was a riding crop, probably her weapon since she was obviously a Huntress.

She engaged the criminal in a very brief exchange before the Bullhead escaped and ran, and then turned to look at them in what was probably the scariest glare she'd ever seen. Suddenly, all the tales of the Beowolf under her bed didn't sound so scary any more. She'd prefer the Beowolf under her bed over that woman's glare.

Still, she couldn't miss an opportunity like that. "A true Huntress... may I have your autograph?".

It wasn't a wise decision.

 _ **Just like for the first chapter, I ask all the readers who are willing to help to leave a review if they want to help me with the ship. The choices are Arkos and Lancaster. I don't have preferences (I'm an Arkos fan, but I can write Lancaster and it would fit this fic just as well). If you want, you can ask for other ships as well (even unrelated, like BlackSun or Bumblebee).**_

 _ **And if you feel daring, you can also explain why one would be better than the other.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading and, unless I die, see you soon!**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey everyone! I'm back, although not exactly in one piece. I think I've lost my mind somewhere between this morning and noon. Doesn't matter. I never used it.**_

 _ **Less jokes, more seriousness. I'm really happy to be able to post this tonight. I feared I would need another day, but instead I managed to write this today. And although it's shorter than the previous two (the first being 4k words and the second 3.5k), there is a lot of dialogue to create a bit of space. I'm not a professional writer so excuse me if my chapters are short. If you want, I may try (keyword being try) to write longer chapters.**_

 _ **And now, enjoy!**_

Ruby Rose couldn't believe her own luck. Not only she had been forgiven for the mess she had caused in Vale with just a brief -though terrifying- telling off, but after said telling off she had actually been offered to attend Beacon two years prior the normal age of seventeen!

Of course, while she was happy to just happily chat with her sister Yang Xiao Long about that, her sister seemed keen on praising her over and over again in the extremely embarrassing manner a mother would praise her children for having washed their teeth correctly. Somehow, it made the whole ordeal sound less cool and awesome and more cute and endearing. And Ruby Rose wasn't cute or endearing. She was dangerous. She was awesome. And she drank milk!

Unfortunately, she was the only one to think she wasn't cute.

Yang thought she was cute, although annoying at times.

Her father thought she was cute and endearing, and kept treating her like the child she _absolutely_ wasn't.

Her uncle, although certified drunkard, had always thought she was adorably cute, even more so when wielding Crescent Rose and trying to glare at the enemy.

And even the blond guy who had helped her, who turned out to be attending Beacon just as well, had called her attempts to be awesome `cute`.

She would get back to them for all those `cute`s. She was sure of it. While she knew she was adorably cute and cutely adorable, she wasn't _just_ that. She was also a cool, awesome, dangerous, tough, skilled, fast, scythe-wielder Huntress in training. Heard that, slanderers? She was _cool_. She was _dangerous_. And she was a freaking scythe wielder!

None cared, and she had to seethe in silence.

Fortunately, not everything had gone wrong that day. For example, she was now on a Bullhead -she had never found out _why_ would you call an airship `bullhead`- that was flying directly to Beacon Academy, and that was good. More so, she was with her sister Yang Xiao Long, self-proclaimed `Queen of Befriending`, so she didn't need to worry about friends. She had her sister to hang out with. And besides, just how hard could make friends be? Not much. It had to be easy, if Yang could manage it so easily. It had to be. It _had_ to be.

She wasn't appeased by her continuous self-reassurances.

Beside her, Yang was stretching to work out some kinks in her back, at the same time scaring people off with the loud noises her back made and attracting the stares of many guys and some girls as she showed off her admittedly curvy figure. Ruby silently seethed for that too. She was just two years younger, and she had yet to develop like her sister had. From what her father had told her, her mother had always been far less developed than Yang's mother, but Ruby still felt it to be incredibly unfair.

At least not all the people were watching her.

"Soooo... My little sister is finally grown up!", exclaimed Yang cheerfully. "Stopping a robbery all by yourself! I'm _so_ proud!".

Okay, now basically everybody was looking at the two of them.

"Yang!", she whined. "Be quiet!".

"Aww, you're so cute, sis!", cooed her sister as she got Ruby in a headlock and began rubbing her already messy hair. "Why do you want others not to hear about the young prodigy?".

"Hey, I'm just a normal girl with normal knees!", she retorted, trying and miserably failing at freeing herself from the headlock her sister had her in.

"Yeah, and I'm a Goliath disguised as a cypress", snorted Yang, and then glared at Ruby when she opened her mouth to reply. "You're being accepted into Beacon two years prior, sis. You're special, get over it".

"I wasn't even alone during the robbery", she muttered grumpily.

"Oh yeah, and who was with you?", quipped Yang with a smirk. "The shopkeeper? Oh, no, you must be referring to Torchwick himself!".

"I already told you, there was this strange blond guy who elbowed Torchwick and then shielded me from an explosion!", she retorted angrily. "Look, here he is! Over there!".

Yang followed her index just in time to see a tall blond boy grimace and almost double over in clear discomfort. From the green shade his face had, he wasn't feeling very well. And her suspiciousness was confirmed as he vomited in a trash can not a second later, reappearing quite less sick and almost at ease. _'You can't vomit forever'_ , she reasoned. _'Once your stomach's empty, it's difficult to throw up what you already have digested... aaand now I just brought up a terrible mental image'_.

She shook her head to clear it from horrible thoughts and turned to Ruby with a cocked eyebrow. "Excuse me if I demolish your image for your future boyfriend" -"H-He's n-not my b-b-boyfriend!"- "but he hardly looks like a fighter. I bet I could take him down any second with little effort".

"Yang, behi...", Ruby tried to warn her, but someone else was faster.

"And I think you shouldn't judge fighters only because they have motion sickness that, just for you to know, is much more common than you'd think. I just so happen to have a very serious case of it", said a voice from behind Yang, making her spin and face the blond boy who had now a far healthier skin colour. "As for your bet, I'm sure we will find out during our time at Beacon. And, by the way, hello Ms Rose".

Ruby's embarrassment at speaking with other people and her social ineptness were momentarily clouded by her confusion at being called `Ms` by someone just two years her senior. "Hey. You can just call me Ruby, you know?".

The blond nodded and smiled almost imperceptibly. "Of course. I don't know if you caught my name yesterday. I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it".

"Do they?", asked Yang with a raised eyebrow.

He seemed to think about it for a second. "Mmh... I guess that also males love it, yes. And before you ask no, I didn't mean _all_ the ladies". He then smiled. "But never mind. What's your name?".

Yang had been expecting at least some subtle flirting from the guy. After all, she _knew_ her curvaceous figure was quite the sight, especially for someone as young as she was. And yet, the guy's voice was completely, utterly and absolutely devoid of flirt. Warm, yes. Soft, yes. Friendly, yes. Flirty? Nope. So she frowned for a fraction of second before smiling as well. "I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister!".

The blond seemed to compare them for a second before shrugging. "I guess I can you by first name, too, Ms Rose?", he asked, clearly speaking to Yang even though he had used the wrong surname.

"Actually, it's Yang Xiao Long", she explained, almost daring him to comment. "Different mothers".

"Ah", he made a noise of realization. "Same question, Ms Xiao Long".

"Of course", she said as she flicked him on the forehead, frowning when he flicked her back without missing a beat. "Mine's not as sweet as yours, but...".

"I think you're wrong. While my name means nothing more than `yellow` in one of the ancient and forgotten tongues and is somewhat inspired by a legend of a certain Joan of Arc, yours has a far deeper meaning", he said, and there was no flattering his voice. He was stating a fact, although in a warm and soft voice. A friend to a friend. "The Yang is one of the primordial creators. While Yin was what we call `negative energy`, it just represented the `dark side` that was in ourselves. Just like it represented femininity, passive energy and the Moon".

Yang blinked.

"The Yang, instead, was the `positive` energy. It represented the light, the Sun, masculinity and instead of being passive it was active". He smiled. "Most people would say that Yang is better than Yin, but unfortunately I can't say it is. They're both part of a whole. Still, your name holds quite the meaning, Yang".

Yang blinked.

"Eh?", she managed to say, and she immediately realized it wasn't exactly an intelligent response, so she reformulated. "I mean, seriously?".

"I just told you", he replied.

"Wow. Just... wow". Yang knew the meaning of her name. She just had never heard someone explain it to her. If she hadn't known better, it could've almost sounded like flirting, but the guy's tone wasn't flirty. She knew when a voice was flirty. His voice had been about as flirty as Ruby's, and that was saying it all. "Ruby, I already like this guy".

"And what does my name mean?", she asked, and Yang inwardly cringed. Why did she have to ask that question? Now he would reply that it was obvious and Ruby would be sad. And she would have to punch the guy through the hull of the ship for that, and she didn't want to after he had been so nice with them.

He surprised her.

"Well, the ruby is a stone, and a very precious one at that, as you well know... or at least I hope you know. Anyway, the ruby stands for many things". He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I don't remember them all, but the ruby is a stone of passion and emotion. But it is also a stone used to placate sexual appetite as well as protection. Wearing a ruby is a powerful ward against misfortune, and it is believed that rubies can grant invulnerability to their owners... although that is clearly untrue. Ancient populations believed that rubies also lengthened the wearer's life span".

Ruby blinked just Yang had done only a minute prior.

"Wow, Vomit Boy, you surely know the stuff!", exclaimed Yang, grinning widely. "And now we know why my little sister here never had a boyfriend before! Your name prevents you from getting one!".

"YANG!", whisper-yelled Ruby, immediately going red. "Shut up! Not in front of other people, at least!".

Yang chuckled. "Alright sis, you won. Maybe I'll tell him about that time when... where... where is he?", she asked, looking around, only to see the blond doubling once more over the trash can. She cringed. "Ehm... better to leave him be, for now. I'm sure he wouldn't like the attention".

Especially because a couple of other students-of-Beacon-to-be had already noticed him, and they were definitely not helping, part of them eyeing him with pity and part of them chuckling lightly at the poor boy's misery. Not that they meant any actual harm. They were just chuckling at the embarrassing situation he was in. Not that he noticed. He was a bit too engrossed with throwing up whatever he had in his stomach to care.

And Yang _really_ didn't want to stand there and watch him vomit again.

#####

Pyrrha Nikos had had quite a day.

She had of course heard the news about some young Huntress in training and a guy who, despite his lack of a weapon when the robbery had taken place, was obviously another Huntsman in training. The two of them had stopped, and violently, a robbery from the infamous criminal boss Roman Torchwick. Why had Torchwick lead the robbery instead of sending some underlings was still unclear, but the fact that the two students had thwarted his robbery was quite surprisingly. Of course Torchwick hadn't really _fought_ , otherwise the two teenagers would've likely ended up in a bad situation, but they had nonetheless stopped a crime.

Although the damage their little battle had caused had costed quite a bit...

Pyrrha wanted to shake her head to clear it from those thoughts and focus on the approaching Beacon Academy. Unfortunately, she was basically surrounded by `fans` and so she had very little chances but politely reply to all the questions she could.

Frankly, it was quite suffocating... and annoying. Of all the people in the Bullhead, why it had to be her the one to be bothered like that? Besides, while her skills were incredible for a first year student, any second year could've beaten her in an unarmed match. Of course, when it came to weapons, her Semblance offered her a very unfair advantage over her adversaries. Namely, being completely untouchable. Every swing missed of inches, every hit was ever so slightly off course, every blow always came too slowly or too sloppily. And so...

...and so Pyrrha Nikos was basically a goddess.

The fact that she kept her Semblance as secret as possible of course worked to her benefit. Without them knowing her trump card, she could even defeat experienced Huntsmen, if she got them fast enough. Most of the times, they still kicked her ass after throwing their weapons away or by using their Semblances, but she _had_ , once or twice, defeated a full-fledged Huntsman.

And that had just pushed her even more in her role of goddess.

She knew she was going to become a great Huntress. Unfortunately, she could give her best only against other Huntsmen, that was ironic since Huntsmen were supposed to fight the Grimm, not themselves. Against the Grimm her Semblance did next to nothing, apart from the times she had used it on the metal she had been wearing herself.

And speaking of Grimm.

As she automatically answered the questions from her fans, her mind went back to the strange encounter she'd made just a few days prior. The strange Faunus who had claimed to be a Grimm. _His_ Semblance would've been incredible against the Grimm. She had never seen a placid Ursa, and surely she had never even heard of an Ursa accepting a human's or a Faunus's petting. Yet she had seen it with her very eyes.

The boy had been very strange, too. He was far too pale to be healthy, and his eyes had a feral glint in them that hinted to a life probably lived in poverty and in the wilderness. She felt her heart clench at that. The boy had probably developed such a Semblance because of his prolonged stay in the wilderness. He was probably homeless and poor. His appearance, which she had to admit was a bit of an anomaly, and his situation had probably driven him slightly mad, to the point in which he believed himself to be a Grimm.

Not to mention his weapons. Had a humanoid Grimm existed, it would've been just like that boy. He was pale, with black hair and red eyes, Nevermore-like wings on his back, black horns on his forehead and a pair of black katars in the form of long blades on his forearms. The poor boy must've been surrounded by controlled Grimm for so long he had actually gone nuts. She felt truly sorry for him. He had sounded friendly and harmless enough. She hoped he would be alright.

Her saddened expression must've shown for a second, as she was immediately bombarded by questions.

"Miss Nikos, are you alright?!".

"Miss Nikos, is there something wrong?!".

"Something's wrong?!".

"Why are you sad?!".

"Enough".

"Something happened?!".

"What's wrong?!".

"Do you need something?!".

"Enough!".

"What are you thinking, Miss Nikos?!".

"Why were you sad?!".

"Don't worry, Pyrrha, I'm here to comfort you!".

"Is there something wrong?!".

"Are...".

"ENOUGH!".

The sudden shout made everyone flinch, and the crowd plus Pyrrha turned to stare at the one who had spoken. He was a tall blond boy with lively blue eyes, that at the moment were as hard as two sapphires and just as cold. The crowd of her fans began to frown, but he spoke again.

"First off, if you ask a question, give her time to reply. Otherwise, it's pointless, and all what you're doing is making everyone hear your voice. Secondly, you are overcrowding her. I feel sick at merely _watching_ this crowd. She has to breathe, you know? Let her breathe a little". To everyone's surprise and someone's outrage, he began scolding them. "Thirdly, not everyone wants to share personal thoughts. I know I don't. So asking such questions is truly inconsiderate of you".

There was a second of silence and stillness before a large boy with short brown-orange hair stepped forward. "Oh, and who should you be?".

"The only one here with manners, or so it would seem", he replied, moving his eyes from the crowd to stare into the larger boy's own eyes. "But if you want my name, it's Jaune Arc".

"Okay, Jauney, now listen to me. Your choice of coming here and starting to scold everyone was a bad choice", said the larger student in a menacing tone, cracking his knuckles. Pyrrha wanted to step in, but the thickness of the crowd prevented her from doing so, and she didn't want to shove people aside. "We know what we are doing. And if you don't drag your pretty effeminate face away from here, I fear I'll have to change your facial features a little".

"You do realize that I _am_ a student of Beacon, or at least I will be, just like you, and that I'm not intimidated by you?", asked the boy called Jaune Arc.

Bad decision.

The larger boy didn't even bother to reply before throwing a direct punch at the newcomer's face. With civilians, he would've never even lifted a finger over them, but this was a Huntsman in training, and so with Aura. He would be able to take a hit like that, although it would also hurt, just what he was aiming for. To hurt.

Worse decision.

Jaune Arc just stepped back and bent sideways ever so slightly to dodge the hit, and then straightened himself after the larger boy had fallen back into stance. He didn't even seemed surprised by the attack. And so, the other guy attacked again.

Worst decision.

This time Jaune Arc _did_ react, dodging the punch only to grab his arm and pull, making the other boy stagger forward. Then he pulled harder, sending the guy stumbling away. Without even looking as if he was in a fight, he turned to the others. "Would you please listen to what I just said?".

The crowd scattered grumpily and, a couple more questions to Pyrrha, they were gone. The larger boy had gone too, not because his attack had just been thwarted, but because he wasn't really that serious about the fight. It was just to show off a bit.

However, when Pyrrha turned to thank her `saviour`, she found him vomiting in a trash can, the same one she was sure to have seen him vomit just a handful of minutes before. A light smile came to her face as she watched the poor boy grumble something that she couldn't hear, probably cursing whatever illness he had, and then leaning against the wall, looking a bit less sick than before.

Beacon had become interesting before it even started.

 _ **Hello everyone!**_

 _ **Yes, I love footnotes. ;)**_

 _ **Anyway. As you can see I'm still not sure about the ship. Not that it would've changed this chapter. I wanted to make a Ruby scene and a Pyrrha scene just the same.**_

 _ **But!**_

 _ **It is incredibly difficult for me to decide the ship. I could write either Arkos or Lancaster (not both, please). Really, I could. Thus far I received 6 votes... 3 for Arkos and 3 for Lancaster. Argh! Until one of the two really outclasses the other, I can't firmly decide, and even if I know I'm just freaking out over nothing here, I'd really like to know early about the ship. Every other fic I started began with me already knowing the ship.**_

 _ **I'm not blaming the reviewers! Perish the thought! I'm just saying that, like always, help is most appreciated, and although I don't reply to many reviews, I still ready each and every single one of them! Really, your opinion is important, not the review count. That's just a number. A person's idea is so much more.**_

 _ **Well... what can I say?**_

 _ **See you later!**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey, after a chapter of just 3k words, we have one of 4.4k words. Not that this is much, but I guess it's already better. Dunno, part of me says it's too short, and part of me says I'm being too harsh with myself.**_

 _ **Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**_

Ruby Rose's day hadn't been exemplar so far.

First off her sister, who was supposed to help her blend in and at least offer her moral support, had vanished with her friends something like fifteen seconds after they got out of the Bullhead, leaving her in a very awkward situation since she had not only known nothing about what to do, but she had also been disorientated by her sister's sudden departure alongside her friends, and that had lead to the second bad event of the day.

Right after Yang had left her, she had just left herself fall to the ground to try and calm her headache, that was making her world spin, and of course her luck had made her fall straight on someone else's luggage, sending it all to the ground and starting a heated discussion with the owner, said Weiss Schnee Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, that had ended with the girl stomping away and leaving her to fall back on the ground, in the middle of the crater she had accidentally created when she set off some Dust with a sneeze of all things, and her position had been what had caused the next event to happen.

She had had barely the time to utter a defeated `Welcome to Beacon` before a shadow had been cast over her, and when she had opened her eyes she had found the blond boy from the robbery and the airship, the same one who had been vomiting basically all thorough the trip to Beacon on Bullhead, offering her a hand to get up with a small, nervous smile and a friendly glint in his eyes, and of course she had ended up accepting the help, although she could've stood up on her own just as easily and even faster thanks to her Semblance.

The two of them had them talked a bit on their way to the atrium, although in the end they managed to get lost when following a theoretically straight path, and she had been able to fully show him Crescent Rose, that impressed him only mildly, even though he did admit it was extremely well done, and then she got to see what _awesome_ weapons he had, that had turned out to be a one-handed sword and a shield that could be combined into a greatsword, and on top of all that the shield could fold into a scabbard and be carried easily around. And while Jaune had no ranged weapon, he had repeatedly told her he was more than sure that ranged fights weren't gonna happen often with Grimm and that he was more than able to handle his own fights... although none of them had managed to keep track of where they were going, that resulted in them making a mad dash for the atrium at the last moment.

She had of course bolted to her sister immediately, scolding her for her sudden disappearance, leaving Jaune behind. She heard him muttering something under his breath, but since she was already talking to Yang she couldn't exactly make out what he said. Her blonde sister already took up most of her attention.

"Great way of helping me out with friends, sis!", she pouted at the older girl. "You literally left me on the ground to have fun with your friends, without giving a damn about me!".

"Buuut you made a friend!", retorted Yang, pointing a Jaune, who was standing awkwardly on his own a little away from them. "Was he nice or do I need to break his bones?".

"He was nice, and I don't think you would be able to break his bones", replied Ruby, crossing his arms. "He's so flexible I doubt he even _has_ bones. At the robbery he dodged a bullet by bending all the way back. It was unnatural".

"Maybe he's a contortionist", proposed Yang, shrugging her sister's concerns off. "Also, being flexible could really help the two of you if you decided to go all the way...".

"Yang!", exclaimed Ruby, immediately as red as her cape. "H-He's j-just a fri-friend!".

"He'd better be _just a friend_ , if he values his genes as they are now", scoffed Yang. "I would hate to give him the talk about `Ruby is off limits` so soon during your _friendship_ ".

"Ugh, you and Dad with your stories about me having a boyfriend only at thirty! You're two hypocrites!", huffed Ruby, clearly annoyed. "Your first kiss was at twelve, and Dad's so-called _first time_ was at fourteen. And then I should be forbidden a relationship only because I'm two years younger than you are?".

"We're not _hypocrites_ , Ruby. We just want you to learn from our mistakes. As for my first kiss, it was horrible". She faked a gag. "As for the relationship stuff, yes. No boyfriends nor girlfriends until you are an adult".

Ruby turned to sulk in silence, but a familiar pale face stopped her before she could pout. Pale skin, pale blue eyes, and white hair. Yep, her day was definitely going to be horrible, if it continued like that. Weiss `Princess` Schnee herself had chosen to stand right beside them, and that Heavens protected them from her icy attitude. Also, said cold demon was evidently going to speak. Definitely not her best day so far.

"YOU!", Weiss Schnee, Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and resident Princess. "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff".

"It was an accident, and you're exaggerating", retorted Ruby, who after the conversation with Yang was feeling quite snappy. "It wasn't _that_ strong. It barely left a crater! Beacon's grounds should be able to withstand much more".

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Fine. But it doesn't change the fact that you exploded me!".

"Ehm...", was all Yang could say before Weiss thrust a hand out to stop her, and then handed some kind of information card to Ruby, beginning to recite its contents at memory.

After she finished, she glared at Ruby. "Do you really want to make things up to me?".

"Absolutely", nodded Ruby, now out of her snappy moment and back to her awkward person.

"Read this, and don't ever speak to me again", spat Weiss, turning and crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Ehm... I guess you two started off the wrong foot", said Yang, scratching the back of her head. "Why don't you two start anew?".

"Oh, yes, thank you Yang. Ehm-ehm". Ruby cleared her throat. "Hello Weiss, I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies~".

"Yeah, and we could paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blond and... scraggly over there".

"Hey!", protested `tall, blond and scraggly` from `over there`.

"Oh, really?", asked Ruby, elated and completely unaware of the heavy sarcasm.

Weiss stared at her for a second before delivering the final blow with a dry "No".

Ruby slumped in defeat, and Yang's eyes turned red in an instant as she readied herself to punch the insolent little Schnee brat straight through the wall of the atrium, but before the blonde could spread devastation, a voice interrupted their thoughts.

A seemingly young man with very premature grey hair and silvering glasses had walked on the platform in front of them, and had then begun to speak at the gathered students, an audience mildly interested but listening nonetheless. Beside him there was a tall blonde woman with a very stern expression and transparent glasses that did nothing to hide her pale green eyes. The man with grey hair, who was wearing a tailored dark green suit, cleared his throat before speaking.

"I'll keep this brief", he said, gaining the attention of all the students. Basically all of them had studied in combat schools, and all of them were expecting a long and boring welcoming speech. The prospect of a `brief` speech was alluring indeed, especially for the ones who were tired from the journey. "You've all travelled here today in the source of knowledge. To hone your crafts and acquire new skills. And when you're finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people".

He made a short pause before continuing. "But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose... direction". His gaze swept across the hall. "You assume that knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove you that knowledge can only carry you so far. It's up to you, to take the first step".

As he finished his brief speech, the woman beside him took over and he walked away. "You will gather in the ballroom for tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready", she said emotionlessly. "You're dismissed".

The students began to file away as the woman, who they figured was the Deputy Headmistress, walked off the stage, following her through the vast maze of corridors of Beacon and finally into a large hall that they could clearly recognize as the ballroom.

Ruby and Yang chose their sleeping bags in order to be as far as possible from Weiss.

#####

Jaune really didn't know what to think. On the bright side, he was glad that he hadn't been pulverized the second he'd stepped in Ozpin's school. It was a good sign. But at the same time he was almost sure that all the stares he was earning while walking back to his sleeping bag after having changed into his usual onesie weren't normal. He was receiving more stares than the prettiest girl in the room, for crying out loud! And for the Prince of the Grimm, the Dark Knight, and if Salem was right also the Bane of Humanity, stares weren't a good thing. Stares meant attention focused on him. Attention wasn't good.

He doubted he was found _that_ handsome. Sure, he wasn't bad, but the stares were far too many. _Far_ too many. He looked down at himself to make sure he was still in his human form. It would've been next to impossible for him to transform unconsciously, but not completely impossible. Nor it had ever happened in his sleep, not even when he had nightmares. He also doubted that they could be so impressed by the small scar on his cheek, since it was barely visible and the room was dark. And since his onesie covered him completely, he doubted his other scars were the reason for all the stares. He really wasn't liking it. What was wrong with him, if people looked at him?

He found the answer by looking around and seeing that basically _everyone_ had changed in much more... _revealing_ outfits and that he was the only one with a choice of nightwear that made sense. He had packed other pyjamas, of course, and he had resolved to sleep shirtless if the heat became too much to bear... but they were in a ballroom that was pretty cold, and not even in proper beds with covers! Hadn't they had Aura, all those show-off students would've caught a cold. He idly wondered if Aura could be used to stabilize the body's temperature, and if it could, he wondered if large companies would try and use it for heating or cooling systems. Oh, right, they didn't have Grimm beetles to extract Aura from people. And he didn't think Grimm would be welcomed into business just for that.

As he reached his sleeping bag and tucked himself in, he heard a noise that he had always associated only to Beowolves' fights. A messy ruckus made up of cries, growls, some outraged meows -cats _always_ got involved- and hisses. When he looked at the source of the noise, he saw a tall blonde girl brawling with a smaller girl. He narrowed his eyes as he recognized Ruby from the courtyard, and then his eyes narrowed even further as he recalled her silver eyes. They weren't anything he was particularly worried about, although he knew the _effect_ they had on normal Grimm. Fortunately, his mother had told him that while the Silver Eyes could harm him, he was too strong and too human to be completely influenced. And besides, from what he knew humans didn't even know about the Silver Eyes' powers. Talk about irony. So he was safe.

Unfortunately, that didn't mean he was going to get sleep anytime soon. Not that he _needed_ sleep. He was a Grimm, and like every Grimm he didn't need to sleep. But sleeping was nice, and besides staying awake all night was a pretty boring thought. He had nothing to do, and nowhere to go, so it was probably better for him to sleep. But the two brawling girls seemed to have different ideas. A third girl, one he recognized from the courtyard as well, with black hair and a black bow over her cat ears, was watching the fight without as much as moving, and he frowned at her for the lack of helpfulness. Not that she responded.

Fortunately, someone else decided to step in before he could get annoyed enough to transform into his Grimm form and spread terror amongst the students in order to make them stop, that was an option he was seriously considering, but unfortunately it seemed to be the wrong person for the job. Never send a human to do a Grimm's job. And absolutely not Weiss Schnee Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. He could only sink his face into his pillow in despair as the white-haired girl chastised the other two girls, and that _of course_ caused another heated discussion. He was really surprised by how hostile the two sides were. Ruby was slightly snappy, Weiss was definitely icy and the third girl, the blonde one, was definitely nosey. Yeah, she might've been Ruby's sister, but if the small crimsonette was able to handle Grimm and criminals, she could handle an angry Weiss Schnee. The blonde's attitude made him frown. That really wasn't her fight.

Fortunately, the cat Faunus decided to put an end to that madness and blew off the only light remaining in the room.

Jaune sighed deeply as he rolled on his side and tried to sleep. On a side was his normal sleeping position since he normally slept in his Grimm form, and so his wings would've bothered him if he slept on his back. And he hated sleeping on his stomach, out of pure discomfort, and so he really had only the choice to sleep on his side. Left or right, it didn't really matter. After all, basically every single Huntsman was ambidextrous, and he in particular had been trained by Tyrian Callows, so it really didn't matter if he slept on his left side or his right one. His night vision was countered by the fact that he had his eyes closed, so the only thing that could've prevented him from sleeping, now, was another commotion.

And he was in the mood to transform if that happened.

#####

He woke up what seemed to him like five seconds after he had laid down, that was normal for humans and Faunuses, and for him too since he had gotten used to sleeping. Of course he could live without sleeping... but it would be kinda boring with no one around. That would make sleepovers particularly hilarious, since he would be the only one not to show any kind of sleepiness all thorough the night. Unfortunately, not if said sleepovers involved drinking: for whatever reason it was, Jaune Arc was definitely a lightweight at drinking.

Without any actual need for sleep, Jaune could count himself amongst the very few so-called `morning people`, normally considered aliens or monsters straight away by normal people. Well, in his case they weren't completely wrong. A half-Grimm, half-Faunus, human-like teenager who could very easily rip the limbs off any civilian was _definitely_ considered a monster. Not that he would ever rip limbs off innocent people. And even of the deserving ones, only if he really had to. There were many ways to kill that were way more merciful.

Taking advantage of his early rise, he quickly got in a shower and cleaned himself thoroughly. Not that he was trying to make himself presentable for something: it was just something he picked up thanks to his sisters. And now that he thought about it, he would need to come up with good names for his `Arc` siblings. And relatives, too. But not at the moment. At the moment, he decided to turn into Grimm to enjoy the feeling of wildness it gave him. Besides, he doubted he would be spotted _in the shower_. Surveillance was okay, but that was creepy right away. Not that all his being a Grimm wasn't creepy...

Much to the others' chagrin, he kept the shower occupied for a good quarter of hour before exiting and heading for the cafeteria. Fortunately the bathroom was large enough to house several showers, otherwise he doubted the students would've finished before noon. His stomach growled noisily at being empty and he hurried to the cafeteria. He was pleased to see the variety of food that was served there. At home his family used to cook very simple things, except for special events like their birthdays, Dustmas or New Year. He was bewildered at the sight before him.

At a table, there were Ruby and her sister. The small crimsonette had at least thirty cookies in front of her, and she looked _really_ ready to eat them all. Probably in no more than ten seconds. At another table sat a tall, black-haired boy and a short carrothead girl, both of them with the most massive piles of pancakes in front of them. The girl seemed to have already finished her breakfast, although the boy had obviously just started it. At yet another table sat the cat Faunus, alone, with a tray of fish nonetheless. He bit back a grimace. _'Fish for breakfast... ugh'_. It was blasphemy.

For himself, he decided to just take the cook's advice and keep it healthy. Not that he _needed_ healthy foods, but back at home healthy foods where basically all they ate, so he chose to stick to normal. He remembered the times when Hazel or Watts had brought him or his sisters to holidays in all the four continents. Mistral, Vale, Vacuo, Mantle... he had seen them all, although just on holiday and for short periods. Of those trips, he would never forget the first time Hazel had brought him to eat pizza. It had been definitely worth the horrible Bullhead trip to arrive to Mistral, although on the way back he hadn't been able to keep it in his stomach.

He sat at Ruby's table, cheerfully responding to the sleepy greetings he received. The elder sister, Yang if his memory was right, seemed ready to just let her face fall in her plate. That being said, her hair was perfectly and her make-up in the exact same quantity she had worn yesterday. Her clothes didn't have a single wrinkle and it was clear she had come out of a shower no more than twenty minutes before. With all of that, she seemed still sleepy. Ruby, instead, was way less tidy and way more energetic. She chirped a `hey!` muffled by the three or four cookies she had in her mouth, and accompanied the greeting with a cheerful wave.

Fortunately, breakfast passed without further conversation. Yang returned from her zombie-trance in time to head for the lockers and made him swear, under the promise of pain and torture, not to tell anyone about her not being a morning person. He was utterly unfazed by her menaces. His mother's compliments were far more scary. But since he didn't want to irritate one of his first friends at Beacon, he played along and pretended to be intimidated in an overly exaggerated way that made Ruby laugh and Yang sulk. Basically, objective complete. And he still had his blackmail material. Uncle Watts had always insisted on taking advantage of everything he could, after all.

Since his own locker was a little bit off from their owns, he farewelled them before heading toward his locker to retrieve his weapons. He had named the sword and the shield Crocea Mors, while the white armour was Crocea Vitae. The katars, instead, where called Obscurité and the black armour was Soleil Noir. His uncle prided himself to have come up with such names, but Jaune suspected Watts had already had a list of possible names for his creations ready at all times.

Unfortunately, his path was going to cross a certain white-haired girl's. In order to arrive to his weapons, he would have to pass through Weiss Schnee Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company herself.

 _'Come on'_ , he told himself. _'You have faced greater odds. Remember when you once dyed Aunt Cinder's hair green?'_.

He shivered at the memory. Then he steeled himself and marched over, only for Weiss to bump into him as she turned to pose like an evil madwoman -the pose slightly reminded him of Cinder while planning, curiously- and of course it ended as bad as it could, with Weiss noticing his presence. Fortunately, he hadn't done anything to earn her ire, apart from being `tall, blond and scraggly over there` so he was relatively safe. Like a Beowolf in a King Tajitsu's den. Well, like a Wyvern in a King Tajitsu's den, really. He was hardly comparable to a Beowolf, even an Alpha one.

"And who are you?", she asked, surveying his -still armourless- attire, from his plain black hoodie to his plain blue jeans to his plain black boots.

"Ehm... my name's Jaune Arc. It's a pleasure to meet you", he said, eyeing his locker. _'So near...'_. "I should get my weapons, if you don't mind...".

She stepped aside, still eyeing him with an inquisitive look and then scoffing. "My name is Weiss Schnee".

He nodded in acknowledgement and opened his locker, glad to find his equipment still there. If what Watts had told him about his weapons being made out of diamond instead of steel, they had to have costed a lot... although wealth wasn't exactly a problem when one's mother was Salem, the Queen of the Grimm, herself.

The girl seemed unsatisfied by his meek response. "Let me guess: you don't know who I am, right?". She snorted. "Another one".

"You're Weiss Schnee, current Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company since your sister Winter got disowned by your father Jacques Schnee when she joined the military", he said, recalling his many researches. They had been `to find out more about the enemy`, but they could surely be used to let this Weiss know he _did_ know who she was. "If what I've read and heard is not wrong, you ran away from your father since he didn't want you to attend Beacon and instead he wanted you to attend Atlas Academy".

The girl looked stunned into silence for a second, but then her expression turned from confused to stormy. "How do you know that?".

"My uncle Jonathan was an Atleasian scientist and doctor", he said. Watts _had_ been a doctor and a scientist, and the simpler he kept the lie, the easier it would be to keep it. "He told me".

Weiss's eyes narrowed, but when she saw no lie in his eyes, she sighed. "I guess it was too much to ask everyone to keep quite about it", she grumbled before turning to face the other girl and returning to their conversation. He frowned when he recognized the girl. Her name was Pyrrha Nikos, if he had heard right. He waved lazily at her before returning to his equipment.

Weiss noticed, of course, and turned. "Wait, you know her?", she asked.

"Mmh... not exactly", he replied, bending down to fasten a greave's straps. "Just caught her name on the airship".

Weiss raised a single eyebrow. "Very well, Arc. _This_...". She motioned at the redhead. "is Pyrrha Nikos".

"Hello", waved Pyrrha.

He waved back with a courteous smile before continuing with the other greave.

Weiss frowned. "She graduated with top grades in her class at Sanctum".

Jaune paused. _'Sanctum... nope'_. "What is this Sanctum?", he asked, raising his gaze just in time to catch Weiss's frown turn into a scowl. "Sorry, homeschooled. Never heard of many combat schools... if this Sanctum is a combat school".

"She won the Mistral tournament, four times in a row", announced Weiss. "A new record".

"And I can beat anyone but my mother at poker", he replied with nonchalance. "Another record".

Mentioning poker seemed to halt Weiss's rant for a second, just enough for him to glance at Pyrrha. "Not meaning any offence, of course. I'd hate to make an enemy so early during the year", he said, not caring about the fact that he was probably making a _white-haired_ enemy in that very moment. "Especially such a beautiful one as well". _'Yeah, Jaune, go for honesty. Uncle Hazel always did say that honesty was the base for friendship'_.

The statement stunned Pyrrha long enough for Weiss to regain her composure, and promptly losing it again. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!", she exclaimed, and then fell silent as he fished out his scroll from his pocket and typed something before holding his scroll in front of him. Peeking at the screen, Weiss almost facepalmed as she saw a Remnant Search of `pumpkin pete marshmallow flakes`.

Jaune didn't know why was she so overly dramatic. He didn't know what was she talking about, he made a quick search. What was wrong with it? "Yeah, I guess you're right. She's the same", he admitted eventually, pocketing his scroll again.

Weiss waited for a follow-up, but it didn't come. "What am I trying to say, she's famous, you're not", she finally said. "Shouldn't you... I don't know... _show_ respect?".

"But I _am_ showing respect", he argued. "And as for being famous, that does not mean anything".

Then he turned to Pyrrha, who had been silent all along and was just looking at the two of them while they bickered. "As for knowing you... well, I kinda did. I saw your fights. Not bad, by the way. You're very good", he said, offering a hand for her to shake. "My name's Jaune Arc. It's a pleasure to meet you".

She smiled as she took his hand. "The pleasure's mine".

 _ **Footnote time!**_

 _ **Tonight I slept horribly, so now I'm irritable, but that's okay!**_

 _ **Anyway, the shipping is currently with Lancaster leading and Arkos close behind. I've always been an Arkos fan, so let's see if my ship will be outclasses by Lancaster! Fight, Arkos, fight!**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Oh no, we're back to 3.5k words! Oum damn me, I'm too tired to write more. Plus, this is better. I don't want to write more. So we all will have to accept the fact that I'm a lazy writer with no regard for my own personal ego and pride.**_

 _ **In a review from a guest (I have turned off the guest-review moderation just now so I can't reply if not in 36 hours... so bothersome) I have been asked if Jaune Arc and Noir Callows are the same person. Yes, they are. Jaune Arc is the false name he's using while Noir Callows is his `true` name. I will call him Noir when he's in Grimm form, but forgive me if I'll make mistakes! ;)**_

 _ **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**_

Ruby Rose was sceptic.

While, normally, the small crimsonette wasn't an overly sceptic person, and she was definitely the kind of person one would define `overly optimistic`. She was a cheerful and always serene kind of girl, and when her sister wasn't around to embarrass her she was also able to not embarrass herself on her own, an incredible feat indeed. Also, with her adorably cuteness, she hardly had a face built for scepticism. It simply didn't fit her. It was like a mug of something different than coffee in Ozpin's hands: unnatural.

And yet, she was sceptic, because her partner was Weiss Schnee nonetheless. She had hoped to keep away... _far_ away from the heiress, but fate had decided to partner the two of them up. She, _Ruby Rose_ , partnered with a psychotic human icicle? Nope, that didn't sound good. She could almost _hear_ the future discussions and scream matches the two of them would have. She would've hoped for someone, _anyone_ , but fate had decided it was her destiny to suffer. It was so unfair!

She was almost sure the same thoughts were passing through Weiss's mind as well. They would have to stick together for the next four years... if they didn't kill each other in the initiation, that is. And it was the option she would bet her money on. The heiress had scoffed at her appearance, but the two of them hadn't exchanged a word since they had gotten partnered up. She could almost see her grave: `here rests Ruby Rose, Huntress in training, killed during initiation for a disagreement with her partner. RIP`. Yeah, that could do it.

At the same time, Weiss was of course thinking of just how unlucky she had been by being partnered with the crimsonette. Not that she was bad at fighting, just the opposite. They had completely annihilated the pack of Beowolves they had encountered. It was simply that she was far too clingy. Far too childish... although she _was_ a child. And far too cheerful. She was never serious, and that was a problem. And she would have to put up with her for the entirety of her time at Beacon? Oum help her.

The two of them were walking in silence with another pair who had partnered up just after them.

Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos were quietly discussing of what would the name of the team be. After they had all decided that they would be in the same team, they had started brainstorming to come up with a team name for each possible leader. In the case of Weiss being the leader, they had decided that the team name would be Team WARN or Team WARP – team Warn or Warp. In case of Jaune being the leader, they would go with Team JWPR – team Jupiter. In Ruby's case, they would be Team RASP – team Rasp. And in Pyrrha's case, they would be Team PJRS – under the grave name of team Pyres.

They had also wondered how the other teams would be. Ruby -the only one with public school experience- had immediately stated she was sure there would've been at least one team of bullies, but the warning went unheeded. The four of them were powerhouses on their own, but in a team all together they would be an extinction-level force... or so Ruby insisted. Jaune didn't feel really a `extinction-level force` while his mother was still alive and ruling the Grimm. _She_ was an extinction-level force. Not four teenagers chatting in a forest with a _medium-high_ percentage of Grimm population.

Weiss, always the pessimist, had stated that there would be a team made up of crazy people, and that they would end up babysitting said team. Ruby immediately stated that Yang would be part of said team. No one said anything to prove her wrong. Pyrrha and Weiss because they didn't know much about Yang. Jaune because what little he _did_ know agreed with what Ruby had said.

Pyrrha, always the optimist, had stated that their team would get along just fine, but her smile had faltered when Weiss and Ruby had exchanged a doubtful glance, only to come back in full force when Jaune had shrugged and nodded alongside her. Ruby and Weiss aside, at least half of their team was getting along just fine. He and Pyrrha had been deep in conversation basically since the moment they had met in the forest. Ironically, they had met while they were trying to reach each other, nonetheless.

Jaune stated that their team would kick asses, and in response to Pyrrha's chuckle he had pointed out how they possessed a girl who could move faster than sound, a girl who could summon her glyphs to do basically anything, a girl who could fight like Pyrrha did, and then he himself, who could surely hold his own. That had shut up Weiss's reprimand for being arrogant, as the girl had to admit that a team like their own was... quite powerful in terms of potential.

Coincidentally, right as the four of them had just finished expressing their thoughts about the next four years that were awaiting for them, they found a cave. The cave gave off every sign of why they should _not_ have entered, but the four of them ventured inside without a care in the world. They were four, and the cave was one. The only thing it could have done would've been collapsing on their heads.

Not even two minutes later, the four of them ran back out, chased by a giant Death freaking Stalker. The damn thing burst the cave's entrance open -and they immediately asked themselves how did it got in in the first place if the entrance wasn't large enough- and swept up Jaune with its stinger. He reassured them it was all right, but a second later the Grimm launched him into the forest, leaving the other three to try and stop it on their own... although Ruby was grinning at the prospect of fighting something more than just Beowolves. Those were boring.

#####

Jaune thanked Uncle Watts once more as he transformed in mid-flight, this time not for his weapons but for the fact that, foreseeing that he could need to transform during the initiation, Watts had disabled all the cameras in the forest so for Ozpin not to see him while transforming. He had managed to stop and turn back to the cave, where sounds of combat where already adding up with roars of anger from the Grimm. He sighed and dropped himself on the ground, running as fast as he could, and temporarily forgetting he was still a Grimm Knight and not a human one.

Thanks to his not having flown too far, he managed to dash into the clearing just in time to see the Death Stalker raise his stinger to attack Ruby, but all the combatants froze when he entered their sights. He shot a nasty glare at the Grimm, although he knew that in his human form Grimm couldn't recognize him and so he shouldn't hold a grudge for the previous attack, before walking up to Ruby and facing the giant scorpion.

 **What do you think you're doing?** , he growled, smirking when the Death Stalker cringed.

"Thanks", he heard Pyrrha's voice behind him. "Have you seen a blond boy on your way here?".

Jaune blinked. And then he remembered to be Noir at the moment, and turned around slowly. Ruby and Weiss were eyeing him with something akin to fear, while Pyrrha was just curious.

"P-Pyrrha", called Weiss. "H-How d-d-do you k-know that t-thing?".

"Oh, I don't _know_ him. I think he's a Faunus with a Grimm-controlling Semblance", replied Pyrrha, and then grimaced, leaning in to whisper to her companions. "I think he's a bit gone in the head, he thinks to be a Grimm. I guess he went mad after staying in the wilderness for long".

Weiss frowned and took a step back. "Pyrrha... that thing isn't a Faunus".

"No, I am not", replied Noir, and his senses were then inebriated by the fear that spiked from Weiss and even a bit from Ruby. "I _am_ a Grimm".

Weiss took another step back, Pyrrha sighed and shook her head, but Ruby of all people squealed in something akin to delight. "Oh my Oum then the legends are true!", she exclaimed. "You're a Grimm Knight!".

Noir paused and glanced at the Death Stalker, as if to ask for suggestions over the answer to give. "A Grimm Knight?", he then replied. "Seriously?".

Ruby nodded enthusiastically as she looked at him, taking in his definitely inhuman appearance, from his great black wings to his crown of horns, before realizing exactly what being a Grimm Knight meant.

The enthusiasm turned into fear.

Noir had to fight back a smile as the emotion washed over him like a delicious nectar, and he had to growl at the Death Stalker to stop him from attacking. Ruby took a step back, matching Weiss in skin colour, her eyes wide as saucers. Pyrrha frowned, as seeing her friends in such a state clearly made her reconsider her idea of him being `just a Faunus`, and stepped back, just to remove herself from the front line.

"C-Come on, Ruby, Weiss", she laughed nervously. "Look at him! He speaks! He thinks! How can he be a Grimm?".

"Have you ever read the ancient legends?", asked Ruby in a small voice. "If you have, you'd know our best chance is to run really fast".

Pyrrha frowned. "Oh, come, it can't be that bad...".

"Are you done ignoring me?", asked Noir, and again he had to fight his most basics instincts as another wave of fear assaulted his senses with its sweetness. The Grimm inside just told him to let himself go and go rampage, but he was used to rule over his instincts and resisted the urge... even if it was tempting. Every emotion tasted different, and fear from Ruby had the same taste of... cookies? He stiffened for a second. No, seriously? Ruby's fear tasted like cookies? What the heck?! "My name is Noir Callows. At your service, my ladies", he finished in a mock bow. Yet more fear reached him, and he desperately tried to regain control over himself. That was not how he should've introduced himself.

When he looked up from his bow, all three of them were gone, with just a few rose petals left in their wake to mark where they'd stood just a second before. In front of him, bushes and branches were still swaying from having been shoved out of the way by the three retreating Huntresses in training. He frowned. That hadn't gone as planned, obviously. He growled at the Death Stalker to go back to his cave and watched it disappear in the darkness.

Sighing, he ran after his friends and transformed back into Jaune.

#####

"Calm down, sis, calm down", said Yang, patting Ruby on the back. "What's wrong?".

"Forest... Grimm... Knight... scared... ran... Jaune... here... run", she panted breathlessly. Behind her, Weiss and Pyrrha weren't far behind, although Pyrrha still didn't know what was wrong. "Death... Stalker... chased... forest... relics...".

"It's okay, sis, we're all here. See? And here comes Jaune from the trees! We're all here", said Yang as she rubbed Ruby's back comfortingly. "Now tell us what happened".

Ruby took a huge gulp of air and exhaled it slowly, calming herself down fractionally. After several applications of said method, she managed to regain a normal breathing. "There is a Grimm Knight in the forest. We were scared and we ran", she said, and her sister's face went from worried to doubtful. "I think a Death Stalker followed us. Where are the relics?".

Yang pointed behind her with her thumb. "Over there, at the temple's ruins", she said, and then turned to Weiss. "You look less prone to panic attacks, Ice Queen. What happened?".

Weiss, who at the moment was feeling really prone to panic attack, glanced at Pyrrha -who was checking over Jaune at the moment, glad he was okay- before answering. "In the forest we met a Death Stalker that flung Jaune away, and I'm glad he's unharmed. However, when we began fighting the Grimm, someone... some _thing_ arrived and interrupted all of us".

Yang frowned. "They killed the Death Stalker?".

Weiss shook her head. "No, it just _stopped_. Whatever that thing was, it could control Grimm. And it looked like one, too". She sighed. "Well, not exactly. It looked like a normal human with white skin, black hair, red eyes, wings like a Nevermore and several horns on his forehead. And it was wearing armour. It growled at the Grimm... and the _Death Stalker_ cowered!".

Yang's eyes passed from doubtful to utterly sceptic, and then to stupefied as she realized Weiss was telling the truth. "Seriously?", she asked. Her eyes were now eager. "What are we waiting!? Let's track it down! Do you know how many credits they'll give us if we fight something like that?".

"Yang...", came Ruby's voice, small and still breathless. "He was a Grimm Knight".

"And so?", asked Yang, shrugging. "And we're Huntresses. Basically human knights".

Ruby shook her head. "Yang, in the legends, Grimm Knights used to guide _armies_ of Grimm".

"But this one's alone", countered Yang. "I bet we eight can take it down".

Weiss's raised eyebrow just rose higher as she glanced at the other three they had found as they had entered the clearing. The black haired girl from the courtyard, whose name was still unknown to her, a tall black haired boy with a single pink lock, and a frighteningly hyperactive girl with orange hair. The shorter girl was singing at the moment. She turned back to Yang, who laughed sheepishly.

"Well... yeah, they're not bad", she said. "I'll introduce you. Guys, those are Weiss, my little sis Ruby, Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune. And you guys, those are my partner Blake, Ren and Nora".

Unfortunately, the greetings couldn't continue as one big problem presented itself in their path. Or rather, several large problems. A herd of Ursai, led by a very big Ursa Major, was advancing from the treeline.

"I hate my life", grumbled Jaune as he unsheathed his sword and activated his shield to unfold it into full shield mode. "But sometimes I hate Grimm more".

No one could really disagree on the second part.

There were eleven Ursai as grand total, plus the Ursa Major. Pyrrha immediately headed for it, and Jaune decided to leave it to her. She was surely skilled enough to take care of it. Instead, he grinned and charged into the fray, loving the adrenaline shooting through his body. Just like his father and his uncles, he did not really mind killing Grimm. They were mindless creatures with no purpose but to kill. He pitied them. They were no more and no less than pawns in Salem's great game of chess. Lots and lots of pawns ready to die for nothing.

Jaune smirked as he jumped over an Ursa's sloppy attack and brought Crocea Mors down on its arm, cutting it off cleanly thanks to his incredible strength and the extremely sharp edge of the sword. The Ursa recoiled in shock and pain, roaring as it brought down the other paw. Jaune shrugged and bashed it aside with his shield, jumping straight on the extended arm of the beast to reach up and behead it.

The others were doing just as good. Yang punched the Ursa in front of her like it was a doll, breaking its forearms and then its spine before finally sending it flying with a final hit. Without as much as a pause for breath, she assaulted a second Ursa, knocking it down with a punch that broke its kneecap, forcing him to kneel in front of her. With a smirk, she punched it time and again, until the dead carcass began to smoke and the body disintegrated into dust of darkness.

Nora wasn't far behind. Swinging her hammer with a strength much superior to what he would've given her credit for, she sent an Ursa stumbling back before literally _flattening_ it to the ground with a vertical swing. Jaune winced as he heard the noise of breaking bones. Nora's bloodthirst wasn't sated, though, because a second later the girl singled out another Ursa, breaking its legs with a slightly maniacal shout of `break their legs!`, for good measure breaking its spine too before swinging her hammer and hitting it square in the face so hard it neck gave away and it was beheaded.

Blake and Ren worked in tandem to bring down an Ursa, since both of them weren't very strong nor had large weapons, and the duo scored a series of light hits all over the body of the first Ursa, that finally knelt in defeat and was impaled by Blake's sword. Ren then charged another Ursa, rolling under an attack at the last moment and managing to reach the monster's other side to drop a hail of bullets on it from behind while Blake slashed at it from before. The second Ursa fell within ten seconds.

Weiss didn't _fight_ Grimm as much as she _killed_ Grimm. She positioned herself just slightly behind the others, summoning one of her glyphs under herself to do Oum knew what. As Jaune watched, the glyph began to spin and the heiress shot forward at crazy speed, not piercing an Ursa as much as passing _through_ it and the one behind in one fluid motion. He had to admit, she had talent, despite her horrible attitude. He just hoped she wouldn't end up being the leader. He already imagined it... and promptly shivered at the thought.

Ruby was more than holding her own. She shot a few rounds at an Ursa, wounding its left arm, before charging in an explosion of rose petals -he still didn't know why there were rose petals- and cutting it neatly in two, leaving the two halves of Grimm to smoke out in behind her. A second Ursa came up and tried to hit her, but she quickly dodged and cut off its paw with a grin. On the ground, the paw was then joined by the arm, a leg and finally the head as Ruby got angry after being hit and beheaded the beast with her scythe.

Pyrrha was slashing and hacking at every square inch of the Ursa Major she could reach, dancing out of its reach and avoiding its attacks rather than parrying them. After a particularly close claw attack, she backflipped and charged back in, bashing a paw aside as she sank her blade deep in the Ursa's body, switching it into a rifle and firing a few shots to dislodge it from its torso and then converting it into Xiphos, using the shortsword to wound the creature's neck. Unfortunately, her strength wasn't enough. That was the problem with weapons: using smaller weapons prevented you from inflicting devastating wounds, while larger weapons would hinder your agility. She continued with a follow-up, however, and she lodged her sword straight through the Ursa's skull, killing it instantly.

The one-sided battle ended with just a couple of bruises that were quickly dealt with by their Auras, and the four of them who still hadn't picked a relic hurried to do so in order to return to the cliff as soon as possible.

Of course, on their way back, they stumbled into a Nevermore.

Just their luck.

#####1

"Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL", said Headmaster Ozpin, looking at the four students lined up in front of him. "Led by Cardin Winchester".

"Nora Valkyrie, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Lie Ren. The four of you retrieved the white queen pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team VYBL", continued Ozpin, and he saw the four students blanch at his words. "Led by Nora Valkyrie".

Nora cheered as she dragged the unconscious forms of Ren, Blake and Yang out of the room, and then cackled maniacally as soon as she was out of sight. Ozpin wondered if he'd done the right thing in choosing her as team leader. _'Well, I had a hyperactive girl, a human sloth, a girl who could be very well mute for how much she talks, and Yang Xiao Long. She was the lesser evil'_.

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos. The four of you retrieved the white king pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWAN", said Ozpin, glad to have finished. The team forming ceremony had always been important, but he was anxious to have the cameras in the Emerald Forest back to working. It had been a scary initiation, but luckily no one got hurt. "Led by Ruby Rose".

Jaune and Pyrrha smiled and complimented Ruby, who looked as shell-shocked as Weiss herself. The poor girls seemed to have been dropped in a caving-in tunnel. And that was saying it all, really.

 _ **Fooooooooootnote!**_

 _ **Remember the votes? (of course you do, I brag about it in every footnote!) Well, it seems I've posed a difficult question. I know that I haven't received many votes, but right now Lancaster is leading with 10 while Arkos is close behind with 9. What will I do?**_

 _ **(answer: continue to write and wait)**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Heya everyone! Yes, I am posting this before it's dark, and it's something almost unheard of coming from me! Yeah!**_

 _ **Anyway, I'd like to reply to a guest who asked me if Jaune is evil in this fic. Nope, he isn't. He's just part Grimm so he's basically inebriated by human emotions. And yes, Ruby's fear tastes like cookies. Do not argue with the Chocolate Cookie God.**_

 _ **Enjoy the madness... the chapter, I mean.**_

Team RWAN woke up at five in the morning at the sound of pandemonium coming from straight across the hall. The four newly appointed students stifled groans of despair. They recognized that voice. It had haunted their dreams, turning them into nightmares, all night long. Ruby hid under her _bed_ , forgetting blankets and pillow in order to stay safe. Pyrrha tightened her grip on the covers and buried her face in the pillow. Weiss shot an icy glare at the door, and for a second there was silence... then, it started again as if nothing had happened.

"It's morning! _It's morning!_ IT'S MORNING!".

Jaune sighed and got up from bed, gesturing the others to stay put... to stay in bed as he made his way toward the door and opened it. There were other ten or so people already knocking at the door of Team VYBL, shouting something about sleep. Jaune walked straight up the door and knocked once. "Nora, if you're all decent, open the door! If you stop this ruckus, I'll make you pancakes!".

The people snickered. Obviously, the offer wasn't going to be accepted. One of them grumbled against Jaune, something along the lines of `damn morning person`, and Jaune didn't completely disagree with him. Yep, being a morning person was definitely not normal. The others just stare with doubt-filled eyes as they waited for the answer from said girl Nora to come. They didn't have to wait long.

The door was wrenched open and a Nora still in her pyjama appeared on the threshold, an interested glint in her eyes and a far-too-wide smile on her lips. Behind her, Jaune could see a level of destruction only a major natural disaster -namely hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or tsunamis- or his family -namely each and every one of his sisters, his mother while angry, a herd of wild Ursai Major or a stampeding charge of Death Stalkers commanded by Tyrian- could cause. Nora's three unfortunate teammates had been left in their despair when she had opened the door. Ren was buried under a mountain of pillows and had had his hairs dyed green and pink, and there was a pup of a Red Eyes -a Grimm sloth- biting and clawing at his face. Yang was -for some reason- hanging upside down from the ceiling, fortunately wearing shorts instead of a skirt, and her hair were splattered with red sap syrup. Luckily, she was already unconscious. Blake was literally buried alive by all her books, and of the poor girl he could only see a single cat ear twitching madly and a hand clawing at the books, trying to get them off her without destroying them.

Nora was immaculate.

Jaune immediately feared for his life and stepped back, and it was the first time the Prince of the Grimm stepped back in fear from someone different than his mother. Not even Cinder in her `evil villain` mode or Tyrian in his `completely crazy` moments could scare him into taking a step back. Nora did it with ease, and grinning. Jaune considered transforming into Grimm and using his full arsenal on the girl. He would surely have her teammates' approval, plus the support of all the people in the corridor... wait, all the people had vanished the moment Nora had opened the door. He was alone with the girl, and her teammates weren't going to help him. Swallowing dryly, he glanced at Nora, who was still grinning like a madwoman.

"O-Okay...", he rasped out, beginning to walk down the corridor and fervently hoping she would just return to killing her teammates. No such luck. The girl was beside him in a second. "Just... give me a second to change into my daywear, okay?".

Without waiting for an answer, he slipped into his room and considered suicide for the first time in his entire life. Even suicide was better than that girl, if what he had seen was anything to go by. Ruby and Weiss had returned to sleep, but Pyrrha was awake, although still in bed. As he entered, she noticed his haunted eyes and overall desperate expression. "Jaune, what's wrong?".

"N-N-N-N... N-N-N... N-N-N-N-N-Nora...", he stammered, quickly grabbing his clothes and disappearing in the bathroom to change. When he exited, his despair hadn't faded one bit. "S-She... p-p-pancakes... I... suicide...".

Pyrrha frowned as she got out of bed and walked up to him. "What happened to Nora?".

He shook his head and led her out of the room, where Nora was waiting impatiently, and up to Team VYBL's door, still open. Pyrrha's eyes widened impossibly as she took in the devastation in the room. Ren was still under the attack of the Grimm sloth, Yang was still hanging from the ceiling and Blake was slowly suffocating under the weight of the books. When Pyrrha turned to him, she was white.

"First team mission", he said with dread. "Take care of Team VYBL. I got Nora... this time".

And with that, Pyrrha went to wake up the rest of Team RWAN to give them the terrible news. As Jaune slowly walked away to his doom, he could hear the moans of despair coming from Weiss and Ruby, and then the cries of absolute disbelief once they saw what remained of Team VYBL.

Jaune just hoped not to end up like Ren, Yang or Blake. Who the hell thought that making Nora team leader was a good idea? Well... probably she would've done it even without being team leader. He silently thanked Oum for his own team. A hummingbird girl and a human icicle weren't that bad, after all. Ruby just ate tons of cookies and Weiss was just a bit stuck-up. At least they weren't the Harbinger of Armageddon like Nora. He idly wondered _where_ did she find the Red Eyes -the name had been chosen because Grimm sloths were so lazy they weren't a danger to anyone, and so no one could come up with a dangerous-sounding name- and how did she managed to cause all the mess she had caused all on her own. After all, it was three against one. They should've won.

He took a wary step away from Nora.

As she sat at the cafeteria's breakfast table, he disappeared in the kitchen. He needed pancakes. Many pancakes. He needed as many pancakes as he could salvage and even more. He needed to bake pancakes. Closing the door behind him, he recalled that Watts had told him that most of Beacon's grounds were without cameras. The school was really trusting it all to his students to keep themselves safe. After all, it was a combat academy.

With a sigh, he transformed into his more natural form, but this time he forwent the wings on his back in favour of six more pairs of arms. They were very similar to black tentacles with white sharp ridges that ended with prehensile clawed hands. With another sigh, he began to work. Luckily, he had practised with the contemporaneous use of multiple limbs, so he managed to cook seven pancakes at a time instead of just one. His two human-like arms and his twelve Grimm-like arms almost never got stuck in each other, and he thanked his uncle Watts for all the exercises he had forced him to do for years. Watts had meant them so for Jaune to help him with his experiments and in his laboratories, but they were perfect to make pancakes too, especially if it was to stop an apocalypse in Nora form. And of course he could cook something for the others too, since he had seven pairs of arms to use. In less than twenty minutes, he transformed again and brought the pancakes out for Nora, finding her deep in conversation with Ruby about her weapons. The rest of Team RWAN and Team VYBL were there, too, although the latter were clearly still traumatized -except for Ren- from the experience.

He set the pile of pancakes in the middle of the table, and everyone eyed it with awe. It was really something to gape at, but unfortunately Nora thought otherwise, grinning as she grabbed the first twenty pancakes from the large tray and helping herself with huge quantities of syrup. Everyone looked at Ren, who was utterly unfazed, with clear worry. Normal Nora was already enough, but Nora in sugar rush? That would've really been an extinction-level catastrophe. No wonder that at the top of the list of cataclysms, there was Nora Valkyrie.

Still, Ren wasn't worried, and shot an amused glance at the others. "Seriously, do you think the world would still be standing if Nora could have a sugar rush?", he chuckled. "Eating sugar doesn't affect her".

Everyone made noncommittal noises of agreement, but Ruby's eyes were shining. "Of course!", she said. "She's always on sugar rush, so even eating sugar doesn't do anything!".

 _'Of course'_ , thought Jaune. _'She's a genius!'_.

Nora didn't exactly care. She was devouring her pancakes without a care in the world. Of the initial twenty, only twelve were still remaining. Jaune swallowed dryly and went back into the kitchen to fetch the others' breakfasts, placing them in front of the respective eater. He finally sat down beside Pyrrha with his own plate of bacon and waffles, a piece of bacon already in his mouth. He hummed as he tasted it. As a Grimm, he shouldn't have needed to eat, but his human blood didn't let him get away with that. Slowly, the two teams began conversing about the day. He shrugged off every question. After all, they were going to see it for themselves soon.

"First class is Grimm Studies with Professor Port", said Weiss, reading the her timetable. "Then we should have Dust Studies with Professor Ozpin... the Headmaster still teaches, that's strange... then we should have History of Remnant with Pro... here it says Doctor Oobleck".

"Maybe he's a doctor?", proposed Jaune, recalling Watt's own doctorate. "And he wants people to remember it?".

"Anyway, then we have another hour with Professor Port, that is Weapon Maintenance" -delighted squeal from Ruby- "Then we have the Headmaster again, this time with Politics of Remnant. I guess he's the right man for the job. Instead, after lunch, we have two hours of Combat Practice with Professor Goodwitch". Weiss glanced at the others, who were still eating. "You don't really care, right?".

Jaune reached out and patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Come on, Weiss, we're not worried. It'll be fine". He swallowed the waffle he was eating. "What's the worst that can happen?".

#####

"Prowlers! Demons! Creatures of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but _I_ simply refer to them as _prey!_ And you will too, upon graduating in this prestigious academy! Haha!".

 _'Oum, somebody kill me'_ , groaned Jaune. _'Who's this guy?'_.

The portly Professor Peter Port had introduced himself not five minutes prior, and half the class was already starting to fall asleep. Ren, Nora, Blake and Yang were dozing off, the second one already snoring lightly. Weiss and Pyrrha were trying to be attentive, but they too looked bored beyond belief. Jaune himself could count himself lucky he didn't need any sleep, otherwise he suspected he would already be in dreamlands by now. Ruby was scribbling something on her notepad, surprisingly, and time and again she looked at Port with a pensive expression.

As the Professor ranted on on his first encounter with a Beowolf, Jaune looked around. There weren't many people awake, and even the few who were looked quite bored. Pyrrha had given up trying and following the lesson, instead opting for quietly chatting with Jaune. Weiss was sitting as stiff as a plank, glaring at the void in front of her. He supposed it was her way to show boredom. Ruby was playing with her pencil, her notepad and an apple she had took out of her bag. Nora and Yang were both thoroughly asleep, Blake not far behind, while Ren seemed more in a state of trance than one of actual sleep, and every two minutes he glanced at Nora to control if the hyperactive girl was still there or if she had managed to run off to destroy the world. Honestly, Jaune wouldn't be surprised of the latter.

"Let's just hope the others aren't like this one", he said, scoffing at Port's story of how he had managed rip three Beowolves into shreds and then rebuild them in one giant monster he had then defeated just for the fun of it. _'Not in a million years'_ , he thought. "This one sounds a bit... full of himself".

"I'm sure there's a reason", replied Pyrrha, hiding a yawn behind her hand. "And besides, it's a good test for concentration".

"He's basically just boasting around on his youth, and thus confirming he's old, without saying a thing about the Grimm. Wasn't this class supposed to be Grimm Studies?", countered Jaune. He already knew he wasn't gonna like Huntsmen tales of Grimm slaughters, he had known since he had left Salem's fortress, but this man in particular was getting under his skin. It was clear he was spouting crap. "This is Grimm Studies, not the Hour of Peter Port's Glorious Tales of Crap".

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "You really don't like him, don't you?".

He crossed his arms. "No, I don't. I really don't". He thought of an answer that would appropriately express how he felt about the matter without giving away his origins, and Hazel's suggestion about honesty came back to his mind. "I hate the tales of Grimm slaughters. They are cruel tales".

"Grimm kill people", she reminded him. "They are monsters".

"Exactly: Grimm kill people. Just that. The rest of the time, they don't hunt, sleep, eat, mate, play or do anything else", he said. "The very nature of Grimm is to kill people. They don't have a choice. They're just mindless beasts that kill or are killed. I pity them. They are victims of nature, not monsters". He scowled at Port. "I hate how humans condemn Grimm so much, and then boast about their own kills. I hate how the Grimm are a race cursed to kill forever without choice. I hate how humans think they're so better than Grimm, when in the end Huntsmen slaughter Grimm like a hot knife through butter, and then laugh and joke about it as if nothing happened".

Pyrrha was staring at him with wide eyes.

"I hate how humans firmly believe to be the better race when they do nothing more than the Grimm: they kill. They kill Grimm. I hate how humans condemn Grimm for killing, while there are fights and murders even among the very humans. Grimm don't kill other Grimm, but humans do, and yet everyone despises the Grimm". He was spitting the words out through gritted teeth now. "I hate how humanity is divided and hate itself. I hate how some people are left free to kill and enslave other people. I hate the racism. I hate the sexism. I hate the prejudices. I hate the hatred. I hate the pain humanity causes to itself. I...".

He was cut off as Pyrrha placed a hand on his arm, and only then he realized he was shaking with rage. Her eyes were wide, but her hand was warm. A warmth he had never experienced with Grimm. Grimm were cold, humans were warm. He liked the warmth. He suppressed his fury with a sigh. "Sorry for bragging about with my thoughts. Must've been boring you to death", he apologized meekly, glancing at Port, who stared back.

"Jaune".

He turned to look at her. Her expression was indecipherable, but not in a bad way. She looked curious but at the same time she seemed uncertain if asking would be unkind or not. Surprise was written all over her face, no doubt for his recent rant about what he hated. And there was a little bit of shyness showing, too, as if she wasn't sure if he'd accept a hand on his arm just like that. Watts had always insisted on how reading emotions was important, and even someone as disinterested as Jaune had caught the basics.

"And what do you love of humanity?", she asked, tilting her head sideways. A tiny smile broke through his mood at her adorable look. Then he sighed as he thought about it.

"People say that humanity are better than the Grimm because the Grimm kill humanity. If that was the only difference, I'd say that humanity would be no more and no less than the Grimm. But humanity is different. Humanity is better". He looked away and stared out of the window. "Unlike Grimm, humans help each other when they're in trouble. Not always, and not everyone, but some do. No Grimm does that for another Grimm. Humans make friends, people who stand by you and stand up for you all along, people who support you through thick and thin, and never judge you. Humans can love, and love is the most powerful of emotions. There is no such thing as love among the Grimm. They are made, not born. Made out of darkness".

Pyrrha was staring at him when he returned to look at her. "I love how humans can build their villages and their lives. I love how humans can show emotions different than mindless bloodthirst. I love how far humans can go for their dear ones. I love how humans have a concept of family the Grimm completely lack. I love how humans can put others before themselves straight until the end. I love how humans can put their ideals before their lives if they think they are right". His voice had been getting steadier and firmer. "I love how humans fight for what they believe is right, not just for the pleasure of fighting. I love how humans fight only when it's necessary. I love how far humans could go for peace. I love how humans protect their dear ones. I love how humans hope. I love how humans dream. I love how humans care. I love how humans love".

"This is why humans are better than Grimm", he said with finality.

For a long moment, there was complete silence from Pyrrha. She looked more than just frozen. She looked petrified by his words. Maybe he'd gone too far, but Hazel's suggestion was still clear in his mind. _'Friends are honest. Unless it's a truth that could hurt them, honesty is the best way'_ , his uncle's words came back to him. He remembered how aunt Cinder -how much that title riled her up! She always said it made her feel old- used to scoff at the counsel and say something about boyfriends and girlfriends. He had never really paid much attention to Cinder's counsels out of training.

"That's...", she finally said. "...very deep".

"Not as much as you think. I've had time to ponder this. A lot of time", he replied. "It should be natural for Huntsman to always doubt. If we don't have reasons, if we aren't _sure_ that what we're doing is right".

Pyrrha blushed in shame. "I... I never really _thought_ about it", she admitted sheepishly. "I mean, I trained for years and took part to tournaments because they told me so, I never really asked myself such questions".

He offered her a small smile. "Well, you've come out of that as an amazing person, so I guess it's no harm done", he said honestly, and was rewarded with seeing the shame fade away from her face. _'Thanks Uncle Hazel, you're the best... but don't tell this to Uncle Watts'_. "Besides, I said they _should_ , not they do. Take the others. I don't think Nora has ever asked himself a philosophical question in her entire life. Yang is more than a firecracker, she's a firework outright. Ruby seems very lost in her dreams of being a hero. And frankly I don't think Ren, Blake or Weiss ever asked themselves if what they were doing was wrong".

She looked away, but he stopped her and made her look at him. "But that's okay. As long as you _defend_ people, it's okay. But our job... our _future_ job, isn't fun. It's responsibility. While it might be good to taste the adrenaline of fight, we must always remember to fight for a reason, not as a principle". He smiled at a sudden memory. "Once my older sister... Jane... told me that having a brain is a gift, and we should use it to think about our actions. My sister can be very deep when she wants to... and when she's not cursing like an angry Nevermore".

"An angry... Nevermore?", asked Pyrrha, who never spoke to an angry Nevermore.

"Of course. They screech and shriek all the time when they're angry", he said. "What do you think they're doing, if not swearing? Singing?".

Pyrrha laughed at what she perceived as a joke, and Jaune stopped himself from sighing in relief. She had taken it as a joke.

"You surely can pass from serious to jokey in no time, uh?", she asked between chuckles.

"Sometimes it's good to crack a laugh while you're being serious. It lifts the spirits", he said, and then smiled. "And it's useful when you have sisters".

"You do?".

"I just quoted my sister Jane", he replied, cocking an eyebrow. "It would be a little strange if I didn't have any, wouldn't it?".

And they fell in another fit of chuckles over something that wasn't even funny.

 _'That's how friends work, I guess'_ , he thought. _'Always giggling and chuckling like Dad... mmh, maybe that's not a good thing'_.

Hazel's counsels were very good, though.

 _ **Footnote is coming.**_

 _ **This is 3.6k words, not as much as I would've wished, but I wanted to stop at the point I stopped, right after Jaune's talk about right and wrong, because I myself ponder those thoughts very often, and I often ask myself if others do the same or if they just live without those questions.**_

 _ **As for the votes... I decided the ship. No spoilers. But you can continue your vote, if you want. At this point, you can vote whatever you want. If you want, you can even vote Jaune x Jaune. I don't mind. My choice has been made, and I swear my sister didn't beat me into choosing what**_ **she** ** _wanted. Let's see which ship is more popular. Give them all, if you want! I'm gonna do this just for fun. My brother says "Arkos and Renora". And when I asked him more, he shut the door on my face! How rude... My sister says "Arkos as the best one, then Ladybug and Bumblebee. And I'll kill all BlackSun or Animal Abuse shippers". Yeah, she's a bit too fan of those ships... never mind. My parents gave me a deadpan stare and my little brother said something similar to "poo", in my native language. What about you all?_**

 ** _I think by now everyone knows I'm a Arkos and Renora fan, I don't mind Bumblebee or BlackSun (don't tell my sister), and all the other ships are of no interest to me. They can be there as long as I have Arkos. The rest is secondary._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**

 ** _PS: no, this isn't my true name._**


	7. Chapter 7

_**And here is just a chapter of humour. I hope you will enjoy it.**_

"Ugh", groaned Team RWAN in unison as they fell on the respective beds.

Ruby, being the less energetic version of the hyperactive Nora, was the first to recover, and she glanced at the others to check on them. Pyrrha had sunk her face in her pillow, and probably she had also suffocated herself, since she wasn't moving any more. Jaune had fallen half on his bed and half on the floor, resulting in his lower half still on his bed and his upper half on the ground, using his left arm as a pillow. Weiss was stiff as a plank, her eyes glued to the ceiling, but if one looked carefully, they could see she was slightly trembling.

"So~", she sang, glad to see her teammates stirring slightly. Jaune removed his arm from across his eyes, Pyrrha partially turned her head to look at her with a narrowed emerald eye, and Weiss stopped shaking. It was at least something. "What are we gonna do?".

"Never let Nora decide free time activities ever again?", proposed Jaune, groaning as he pulled him off the floor and into his bed. "God, I feel horrible".

Weiss nodded along. "That girl _dragged us into the Emerald Forest to fight Grimm_. For fun!", she added, pushing herself in sitting position. "Have you any idea of how many Grimm we killed today?".

"An average of six Beowolves, two Ursai, a quarter of an Ursai Major, an eighth of a King Tajitsu, a Boarbatusk and a quarter of a Death Stalker each", listed Pyrrha, hiding her face back in the pillow. "This means that, counting both Team RWAN and Team VYBL, we killed forty-eight Beowolves, sixteen Ursai, two Ursai Major, a King Tajitsu, eight Boarbatusks and two Death Stalkers".

Her words sent both Jaune and Weiss to crash back down on the bed... Pyrrha's bed, who yelped in surprise as her two teammates fell down on top of her. "We've been fighting Grimm for hours", groaned Jaune. "I can't feel my arms any more".

"Jaune's right, we need to rest to prepare ourselves for tomorrow", said Pyrrha, as wise as always. "A new day of Nora Valkyrie".

Everyone shivered at that.

"Okay with that, but could we do something else?", asked Ruby. "Hey, I've brought a console. Wanna play something? I only have things that involves combat or Huntsmen, sorry, but they're awesome!".

Jaune's spine popped as he forced himself to sit, slowly followed by Pyrrha and Weiss. He rubbed his eyes to remove the tiredness from them. He would surely need rest, now. Not exactly sleep, but he surely had to stop extreme physical activity in order to get rid of the soreness in his limbs. "Sure. An online RPG? I mean, at least it's not just hack and slash. I hate those".

"I love those", retorted Ruby, but she smiled. "But that's fine. Not everyone can appreciate the grace in beheading your opponent over and over again".

(R)WAN leaned away from her and her homicidal expression.

"So~", sang again Ruby. "I've got The Wyvern Quest, Remnant Eclipsed, Endless Grimm, Ice and Fire, A Simpler, More Honest Soul -that's totally badass, by the way- and We Shall Defeat Destiny".

The others exchanged shocked looks at the crimsonette's vast collection. The six games were all good except for Ice and Fire, where all the characters were basically powerhouses, and The Wyvern Quest, where they were all disgustingly weak. Endless Grimm and We Shall Defeat Destiny both had the chance to play offline, so for the players not to be connected to the RemNet. Of course, being online, Remnant Eclipsed and A Simpler, More Honest Soul both had a ridiculously vast choice of weapons and gear, and the starting character's aspect and statistics were based off the real player.

"Not Endless Grimm", said Weiss. "They were endless enough today".

"And not We Shall Defeat Destiny", added Pyrrha. "I really find it insufferable with all its errors and typos in the code. Every two or three quests an object you should have suddenly goes missing. It's boring after a while".

"Well, we already cut down the selection to a third", said Jaune, grinning. "Ruby?".

"I really like Remnant Eclipsed and its apocalypse scenario, with all its Grimm and side quests for repairing and scavenging", said Ruby, and her eyes lit with an inner fire. "But I think that A Simpler, More Honest Soul would be even better. Basically, the prologue lets you attend one of the four Academies of Beacon. It's just one chapter and it's really fast".

"Yes, I remember hearing about that game before", said Weiss. "Strangely, it's not very popular".

"Anyway, at the end of the prologue the schools and the entire Remnant are assaulted by hordes of Grimm. You try to hold your own, but you fail. And then you have, for the rest of the game, to play like Remnant Eclipsed. It just has a prologue that is really cool". She grinned. "Aaand you don't have to choose your character if you don't want to. In addition to the normal set of pre-made characters, our scrolls have our exam data on them, so the game can automatically generates avatars and assign us weapons, skills and statistics basing on those. It's cool!".

"Must be, if you're so hype about it", chuckled Jaune, fishing out his scroll. "Let's do this, team... although Ruby is the leader".

"I'm not so sure about this".

"Huh?". The two redheads and the blond turned to look at the white-gold-haired girl who sat with her scroll already in her hands.

"I'm not so sure about this. About Ruby being the leader... about Ruby being the _only_ leader", she said, frowning as she thought. "I mean, officially she's the leader... but all four of us have evident influence on each other. Today, in the Emerald Forest -I'm gonna kill Nora for that-, it wasn't like there was just one leader. Each of us was a leader. Each of us came up with plans. We took down the King Tajitsu with Ruby's plan, but the Death Stalker was thanks to Pyrrha and the charge of Ursai thanks to Jaune. And I myself have come up with a few tricks against the Beowolves and the Boarbatusks".

"Weiss, what are you trying to say?", asked Jaune, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm just saying that maybe we should adopt a more open-minded view of leadership for this team. We have four talented leaders", she replied, ready for the question. "Maybe we should use them all. I'm not doubting Ruby's leadership... just saying that maybe we are all _fit_ to lead, and maybe we should".

There was a beat of silence.

"Anyway!", exclaimed Ruby. "Do you know why I what to play A Simpler, More Honest Soul?".

There was a _minute_ of silence.

"Whatever", snorted Weiss, although she looked amused. "Let's leave the serious talk for later".

"Agreed", nodded Pyrrha, and Jaune joined soon after.

"So Ruby, why would you want to play Honest Soul?", asked the blond, scrolling down on his device to find Beacon's WiFi. They weren't given the password, but the scrolls were registered so to be able to access it without the password.

"Do you remember yesterday, during initiation? Do you remember the Grimm Knight?", said Ruby, grinning maniacally. Pyrrha and Weiss nodded, and Jaune caught himself before he could nod. "In this game, there are many many many kinds of Grimm. Among which the Grimm Knights... although I've never beaten one. I need more people".

And suddenly Jaune wasn't so keen on playing that game any more.

"Oh, here, I found it. Come on, connect your scrolls and create your avatars. You can of course modify them if you want, but I suggest you to just leave them like that. It's better for you". She grinned. "And Weiss, if you want, you can avoid your character being as flat as a plank".

Ruby was then knocked over by a pillow, but everyone got a laugh at the heiress's expense, although they also did try to explain her that curves weren't everything in life. Jaune in particular said that if a boy was interested in you only because of your body, then that boy wasn't even worth a date. Weiss looked marginally convinced by that, and finally they moved on to creating their own characters.

Jaune smirked at his own statistics and peeked over Ruby's shoulder to see how was she doing.

 _Ruby Rose, the Red Reaper_

 _Acrobat Warrior lvl 16_

 _Strength 80%_

 _Speed 230%_

 _Agility 160%_

 _Stamina 70%_

 _Aura 105%_

He smiled. He didn't know what the percent was for, but it was clear that Ruby had indeed much more speed than strength. He then looked at Pyrrha's and smiled.

 _Pyrrha Nikos, the Bronze Hoplite_

 _Acrobat Warrior lvl 10 & Opportunist Warrior lvl 10_

 _Strength 160%_

 _Speed 145%_

 _Agility 175%_

 _Stamina 155%_

 _Aura 150%_

She smiled at him when he whistled softly, impressed. Pyrrha was surely better than Ruby at fighting, but he didn't expect her to be better even in the agility field. A quick glance to his own scroll had him paling. _His_ scores were quite worrying. Not because they were low: because no human could have those scores. No human and no Faunus.

He hurriedly modified his character and lowered the scores to more _acceptable_ levels, thanking Oum that games always let players make themselves weaker but never make themselves stronger. He was also about to change his username, too, but Ruby snatched the scroll out of his hand to look at his scores and quickly paled. _'Uh oh'_ , he thought. _'Scores too low?'_.

"How the heck can you have 250% in Strength?!", she shrieked, cheeks reddening in outrage. "That's... what the heck?! You're a monster!".

Jaune blushed. _'Nope, not too low'_.

He tried to reach for his scroll, but Ruby had already dashed to Pyrrha and Weiss, and promptly showed them Jaune's statistics. He could only groan and hid his face in his hands as they too paled.

 _Jaune Arc, the White Knight_

 _Acrobat Warrior lvl 8 & Front Line Master lvl 9_

 _Strength 250%_

 _Speed 160%_

 _Agility 200%_

 _Stamina 230%_

 _Aura 200%_

Weiss's scroll fell from her limp fingers and Pyrrha's mouth hung open. Still incredulous, Ruby picked up the scroll and closed her fellow redhead's mouth. "Yep, it's true. You can't rise the statistics in Honest Soul", announced Ruby, sadly.

Weiss looked up at him. "What kind of hellish training have you undergone?", she asked, her voice filled with disbelief. And those were already the lowered scores. "What did you do? Fight Beringels barehanded?".

"No, no, no... I'm just really physically fit, that's all". _'And I'm also technically a Grimm, that are much stronger than they look, especially the Beowolves, sneaky bastards'_.

"Well", said Ruby, giving them all a light smile. "Now we can definitely play and win".

#####

"And then the Snow Angel activated her glyphs and created a platform for us to jump on and onto safety, but the Grimm Knight had dragon wings and so he could fly and he reached us on the cliff, where we engaged him in a furious battle. The Bronze Hoplite and the White Knight were still at eighty or so percent of their Aura, while the Snow Angel had barely above fifty and the Red Reaper was below forty. We teamed up again and charged him head on!".

"And then he kicked all your sorry asses to kingdom come", guessed Yang, smirking widely.

Ruby smirked but continued nonetheless. "He killed me with a single swipe of his broadsword. No, seriously, he took down forty percent of my Aura in a single hit. That was unfair. While Weiss was busy trying to resurrect me, although I would have had just one percent Aura at that point, Pyrrha and Jaune attacked the Knight. He kept using his damn Grimm Control and Grimm Shapeshifting to summon monsters like Beringels or Death Stalkers, and every time he had regained enough Mana he turned into a damn dragon Grimm and forced us to retreat back again", she exclaimed excitedly, spouting words almost as fast as Doctor Oobleck. "However, Jaune insisted we were doing it right, since the Knight's health bar was already at critical level. It's just that ours were also below critical level! So Jaune and Pyrrha attacked one last time, and Jaune managed to distract him long enough for Pyrrha to attack. And when he turned to face her... well, Jaune _did_ have a monstrous Strength score".

Yang's smug smirk turned into disbelief. "No, wait, you _defeated_ a Grimm Knight in A Simpler, More Honest Soul?". Hadn't Jaune known better, he would've sworn there was a faint vein of _awe_ in her voice.

 _'Well, it wasn't that difficult. It was actually far weaker than a real, experienced Grimm Hybrid'_ , he shrugged. _'Besides, it's a game. It would be unfair if it can't be won'_.

"Yep", grinned Ruby. "We killed it. We gained three levels each just out of that, without counting all the Grimm we killed to reach him or the ones he kept summoning. And with that we officially completed the game, winning the Last War and defeating the Grimm. With the ongoing repairs, we are acclaimed and cheered by everyone, and we become queens -and king- of the four continents. All together we reign over Remnant! Long may we live!".

"Long may we live!", echoed the other three members of Team RWAN, the team who had defeated Thanatos, the Grimm Commander of the Shattered Moon.

"Guys, you are being ridiculous", laughed Yang. "You know what, tonight we're gonna play it too, so to see if you're really this awesome or we just needed more players to win".

"I'd like to see _you_ get past the Fall of Beacon", snorted Weiss. "You'd try and fight the Wyvern at level twenty and you'd die immediately. That thing deals an average of two thousands damages per hit".

"Wait, did she just say that?", asked Yang, grinning. "Ruby! You turned the Ice Queen into the Ice Geek!".

Weiss shot her a flaming icy glare that would've melted her frozen flesh into a puddle, hadn't she shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"I'm serious Nora, I think Jaune's strength outmatches even yours", said Ruby, clearly not thinking of the consequences. Ren facepalmed. Blake shook her head in exasperation. Yang just grinned.

And Nora?

"Wanna bet?".

Nora was already in front of Jaune, facing him from across the table, one elbow propped against the hard surface and a smile on her face. As Jaune looked around, he only despaired more. Ruby was smiling excitedly, clearly going to enjoy the show. Weiss was trying to appear uninterested although she clearly wanted to know if he was really as strong as he said he was. Pyrrha was openly analysing him, but she smiled in encouragement too. Ren gave him a `resistance is futile` look and shrugged helplessly. Blake gave him a deadpan stare before focusing back on her book, whose title was Samurai of Love... strange title. There also was a number `2` under the title. Was it a sequel? Yang, instead, was cheering on her teammate, and promptly apologizing to Ruby for not cheering on Jaune. It really looked like he had to do this.

With a sigh, he dropped on a chair and grabbed Nora's hand. She had a strong grip, he gave her that. Her arms didn't look particularly toned, but that could be said about him too. He had taken after his dad, after all... at least for his physic. Surely not for his features, hair or eyes. Nora's strength was as massive as it was surprising. The small girl could surely pack a mean big punch if she wanted to. Years of swinging her hammer Maghnild had given her a bone-breaking strength, and he was sure that hadn't he been a Grimm Hybrid she would've been able to beat him at such a simple strength challenge.

"One...".

"Two...".

"Three...".

"Four...".

"YANG!".

"Begin!".

The pressure was immediate. Nora's strength was definitely way more than what he had first thought. His own hand was forced to give three inches just for the initial surprise, and by that time everyone's expression had already fallen. They were clearly expecting more. He briefly considered just feigning weakness and letting her win, but then he decided against it. If he had been Nora, he would've wanted his adversary to try and win, even if that meant his own defeat. It was honesty.

 _'Honesty is the key for friendship'_.

 _'Thanks again, Uncle Hazel'_.

He narrowed his eyes as his arm tensed up, the lean muscles beginning to lightly strain the skin. While Nora's arm was packed with badass muscles, his own body wasn't one like Hazel's. He surely had a good physic like every Huntsman... exception being Professor Port. But his muscle mass had never really impacted much on his body. He surely was quite the figure, but the real benefit from his lack of bulk was that his adversaries would tend to underestimate him. Just like Nora did. As she saw the muscles in his arm tensing, she applied even more strength, trying to get him down.

Of course she failed, but he'd give her that she was really strong, especially for someone of her age and size. He restrained himself from telling her outright, not wanting to appear overly confident or something like that, and instead he focused himself on getting their hands back to their initial position. With a sharp pull, that probably would've strained a civilian's muscles to the point of harm but that did nothing against the Aura-enhanced Huntress, he had regained perfect equality between the two of them. Nora's smile had turned into a smirk when she had pulled him down a few inches, but it _exploded_ into a wide grin as soon as she caught up with his actions. Apparently, she liked challenges.

He was honestly amused by the little game, but also honestly it was getting old pretty quickly. He feigned great concentration and effort, and began bringing Nora's hand down, fighting back a grin at the girl's shocked expression. She frowned and pulled as hard as she could, but his grip was a vice and the pressure too much. Either she gave ground, or she broke her own bones. To Nora Valkyrie, it was a very tough decision. Fortunately, Jaune didn't really gave her time to ponder it as he forcefully brought their hands down, pushing hers into touching the hard wood with all the back of her hand, from wrist to knuckles. Then, for good measure, he pressed more, breaking the table down to splinters as his and Nora's hands passed through it with a _crack_.

Everyone was silent. Not only he had stopped _Nora Valkyrie_ from slamming his hand into and probably through the table, but he had actually overpowered her. Ruby looked elated beyond definition, clearly enjoying Team VYBL's faces. Nora's expression was in equal parts crushed and overly joyous for having found a worthy opponent, even if she had just lost. Ren looked as if he'd just been hit by a powerful lighting. _'Please do not make this a coup de foundre'_ , Jaune thought desperately. Blake's book had slipped from her slack grip and she gaped openly. Yang had been hilariously shocked into paralysis: her small smug smile was still in place, and her eyes still held a glint of amusement, but it was clear that the girl was in shock. Weiss had fallen off her chair in a very indecorous manner, but she didn't seem to care. Pyrrha's eyes had gone impossibly wide, and her mouth had fallen open for the second time in two days. The sight of the two almost whole teams so bewildered made him want to laugh. Long and aloud. But he stifled his mirth and reached out, closing Pyrrha's mouth with a _click_ , and then dragging Weiss on her feet.

"Sorry for the table", he said, pretending to rub his hand. "Still, you're really strong for your age, Nora. You're really incredible. I bet you built up strength by swinging Maghnild around so much, didn't you?".

"Yep!", she replied cheerfully. "And you?".

He laughed. "Oh, my Uncle forced me for years to follow severe physical training. Sometimes I would train six hours a day for six days a week". He laughed. "But it wasn't that bad, you know? My uncles always had stories and pearls of wisdom for me while training".

"Oh, really?", asked Ruby, who was slapping Yang in the face to get her senses back to her. It seemed to be working thus far. "Like?".

"Well, my uncle Hazel said that honesty is the key for friendship, while lies are the key for alliance", he said, shrugging. It was true. "While Uncle Watts said that when there's a way in, there's also a way out". He had been talking about infiltration and theft of informations, but it fitted nonetheless even in normal life.

"Yeah, they sound fairly wise", nodded Pyrrha, whose look of surprised but pleased interest had yet to fade.

"Sorry for blacking out, guys. I had a strange dream where Vomit Boy beat Nora in a strength challenge", said Yang, suddenly back to reality, even if with a small amnesia. "Anyway, tonight is game night. The eight of us, and we play A Simpler, More Honest Soul all together, trying to go with campaign two".

"Isn't that the one where there are not one, but _two_ Grimm Knights?", asked Blake, vaguely interested.

"Yep".

"I'm not gonna play just to kill countless characters against those", retorted Blake, but then rolled her eyes. "Unless you don't speak another pun for the entire day".

Yang, who hadn't gotten a chance to say a pun all breakfast, looked utterly crushed. Only the thought that her introvert partner would play with them gave her the strength to nod and accept her early demise for pun deprivation.

#####

The night was quiet in Beacon Academy. Many of the students were already sleeping in their comfortable beds. A third year student was in his dorm's bathroom. Two second years were playing cards in silence in an attempt to fight off insomnia, although they had no success. A first year was dreaming about his grandpa and how he used to give him candies when he was five. In his tower, Ozpin was sipping his mug, pondering about all the problems and the pain in the world, and what could he do to stop it.

However, something happened. Something so loud and inhuman that woke up a third of the sleeping students, startling them awake. The third year rushed out of the bathroom without even zipping up his pants, to his and his teammates' great embarrass. The second years where the luckiest, since their insomnia was apparently too scared to remain and they could finally go to sleep. The first year's dream became a nightmare where his grandpa, now terribly similar to Professor Port, stuffed his mouth with candies while telling him stories of his past. Ozpin, in his tower, gripped his mug so hard it shattered, sending shards of porcelain and hot coffee all over his paperwork and so ruining a day's worth of work.

"HOW THE HECK IS YOUR STRENGTH 250%!?".

 _ **If only you knew, Yang. If only.**_

 _ **Footnote time!**_

 _ **So, this chapter was really funny to write for me and I hope it will be funny for you to read. Right now the voting is led by Arkos and Lancaster is falling behind.**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I know some people don't like fics without action, but after all even a life in Remnant isn't all adventure.**_

 _ **And yes, Internet in Remnant is of course Remnet. I thought about Oumnet, but then I decided against it.**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey, this chapter is almost 5k words! Okay, I'll stop rambling and let you read.**_

 _ **Enjoy the chapter!**_

Team RWAN's dormitory was completely silent.

The chairs were unoccupied and the tables mostly free from disorder. The floor had been swept clean and the curtains were drawn, filling the room with light. The small kitchenette was a little less tidy, with cans, cookware and silverware in their own designed places on shelves, in the fridge or in various drawers, but unfortunately not all of them had been placed back where they should've been placed back, and so the kitchen was kind of a mess. The bathroom was extremely clean and utterly empty, the white surfaces shining like white gold. The bunk beds were neatly made... except for one. Luckily, Beacon had provided the bunk beds without problems, otherwise the leader would've probably come up with some crazy idea like piling a bed on another with books or nailing one to the ceiling. The room was completely silent, and there was just an explanation for that.

Team RWAN wasn't in the dorm.

Actually, the team wasn't in the corridors, either, nor in the magnificent halls. And not even in the wondrous gardens or the beautiful courtyard. Since the Emerald Forest was silent, it was also clear they weren't out on another Nora-led Grimm-hunting crazy quest for fun. The Forever Fall Forest wasn't quiet, but that was because Professor Port was out to capture Grimm for his classes. Nor their team was in Vale for shopping or anything. And Professor Oobleck was enjoying a coffee with Professor Ozpin, so Team RWAN wasn't attending one of their classes.

And that left only...

"Kick his ass, Jaune!".

"You can do this!".

"Good luck, Jaune!".

"Send him to kingdom come!".

"Break his legs!". Okay Nora...

"Break his legs!". But Ren?

"...!". Yeah, Blake wasn't very vocal at the moment.

The blond smiled when he heard his team's and Team VYBL's cheering as he stepped on the platform. This was going to be his first fight in Combat Class. He had already fought a couple of Ursai during Grimm Fighting Class -held by Professor Goodwitch and stocked with Grimm provided by Professor Port- but this was going to be a fight with another student. Pyrrha and Ruby had already fought, and he was grateful not to have ended up with any of his friends. He really didn't want to cause hostility between the two teams, who seemed to be getting along great. They were like one huge team, and he surely didn't want any hard feelings running just because he had beaten one of his friends.

Then there was the matter of what to do with his actual adversary. He had seen that Ruby had fought hard and fast, since she wasn't the most durable of fighters, but he had noticed that Pyrrha had seemed slightly slower and weaker than what he had initially thought. Her opponent, a certain Trayor Mordree from Team ARTR, had fought valiantly, but the redhead had taken slightly too much time to take him out. After all, her Semblance made almost all fights fairly easy. _'She had been holding back'_ , he realized with slight surprise. Either Pyrrha thought she was too good to go all out -and she wouldn't be wrong- or she had a reason for holding back. He frowned at his adversary as he tried to reach the answer.

He and his partner had spoken much during those days. Why would she hold back? Why would _anyone_ hold back? Surely not to hide her true ability: apparently she was quite famous. He had seen his fights and he knew her Semblance. He knew how she fought. Then why had she held back? The only reason would've been for her to hide her skill. Okay, then why would she want to hide her true skills? There was no doubt she was skilled, although not _that_ much more than the other first years. Hiding her true skills would've just made her appear weaker, less fame-worthy.

It struck him like a Giant Nevermore.

All the times Pyrrha had talked about her fame and celebrity, he had sensed a lingering sadness and a hint of regret in her tone whenever she got carried away. Slowly, he had come to realize that the girl he had partnered with hated her fame. She would've gladly been just a good fighter with no recognition whatsoever. He shot a glance at Professor Goodwitch, who was still talking to the students about the last fight -Yang against some Draak guy from Team DRGN- and sighed. Pyrrha had held back to avoid appearing the champion she was, then.

He suddenly realized he would have the same problem.

His own strength and skill would've been more than enough to win a fight against many other first year students, but coupled with his being a Grimm, he would probably kick the ass of whoever was so unlucky to fight him straight into the next reincarnation. Watts had always told him that when you were hiding something, either you hid in the most obvious place ever, where nobody would ever look for you, or you disguised yourself. The logic was simple: if you were pretending to be a very rich man, it wasn't good for you to act like a normal civilian. In his case, if he was to hide his being Grimm, it wouldn't have hurt to have others think lowly of him. No one would suspect of a normal average student to be the Prince of the Grimm, the Bane of Humanity, the Dark Knight.

His opponent was a tall, burly teen with several plates of armour and wielding a large flailed mace. He had very short hair and small blue eyes. He looked strangely familiar, although he couldn't recall where had he seen him.

"Begin!".

Goodwitch's voice roused him from his train of thoughts and he focused on the charging student. He was strong -for a human- and he surely intended to use his strength to crush him, but he was utterly clumsy. His attacks lacked the grace of Pyrrha's swings and the agility of Ruby's. The teen relied more on strength than on anything else, evidently. With a swift sidestep, he just dodged the attack and kept the distance between him and his adversary.

Pyrrha had held back to avoid fame. He needed to appear weaker than he actually was, or else his team would begin suspecting something was wrong. They had already seen his `virtual` scores, and they were shocked by them. Beating another student to a bloody mess _could_ set off alarm bells in their heads, and that was something he needed to avoid. His adversary, Cardin Winchester if he was not wrong, was a strong student. His Semblance made his adversaries slower and weaker, and it was a very good Semblance, but even if Jaune was feeling its effects, he would've still been able to overpower the teen with ease. However, Watts' words came back to his mind.

 _'`Do not reveal your true identity`'_.

 _'Well, shit. How am I supposed to win if I have to keep my strength a secret?'_ , he thought as he rolled to dodged another swing from Cardin. The larger teen was frowning at his passive behaviour, and he stopped his onslaught just long enough for Jaune to ponder his choices. Cardin was analysing him, and that was fine, but he also looked pissed for some reason. Probably his elusiveness was ticking him off. After all, nobody liked being danced around, in a fight or in real life.

Still unsure what to do, he shield-bashed Cardin straight in the chest, making him stagger backward, and then he retreated, creating a good fifteen feet gap between them. Cardin looked warier now, almost as if he expected him to charge and bash him again, but of course Jaune didn't move. Instead, he idly noted how he would've already slaughtered the other boy, had he been in his Grimm form. And even in his current form, someone sloppy and focused on strength like Cardin would've been an easy fight for him. He could still win without trouble.

But did he really have to win?

 _'The best way to distract others isn't just being average'_ , he thought. _'But actually being weaker than the average. The lower they think I am, the less they will suspect of me. I'll just say I cheated at Honest Soul and I'll ask Uncle Watts to change my data on my scroll, so the next time I'll just say I modified my scroll data'_. He grinned at his adversary, a grin with too many teeth displayed at once that made the teen slightly uncomfortable. _'And whenever I will transform and they'll run into me, I'll just say, as Jaune, that I was knocked out. They will believe me and Salem won't have to flay me alive'_.

His plan was perfect. With calculated clumsiness, he charged forward, only for Cardin to smash his mace into his shield. The hit wasn't that hard to bear, but he threw himself to the ground as if completely overpowered. Just to avoid looking like a fool, he rolled sideways to dodge the oncoming next attack and scrambled to his feet, shooting a fake grimace to his adversary.

Cardin huffed in victory as he charged again, and this time Jaune dodged to a side, only to follow up with a ridiculously weak and sloppy swing that the other boy parried with ease. Taking advantage of the stalemate, Jaune glanced at his Aura and cringed. He still had more Aura than Cardin, since the other boy had already begun to lose Aura by exertion and by his previous shield bash. He'd have to yield.

He purposefully raised their weapons just so for Cardin to take advantage of the opening. His Aura protected him from pain or damage, but he crouched just the same when Cardin sank his knee into his groin, an action that earned Cardin a lot of indignant `boo` from the public. However, since all hits were allowed, Cardin just shrugged them off and raised his mace to hit him again.

"I yield!", yelled Jaune, biting back a smirk at the teen's unsatisfied expression as he lowered the mace.

"The winner is Cardin Winchester", announced Professor Goodwitch, approaching the two with a disappointed expression. "Mr Arc, I am thoroughly disappointed with you. I seriously hope you will make up for this utter failure with extremely good grades. Your entire fighting style needs serious improvement. I don't know how did you survive during the initiation, but I guess you left the Grimm to the others". _'Jeez, I've never seen her so pissed. Maybe I should've acted a little less and hit a little more'_. "I suggest you to stop dreaming and start training. Your performance was worse than a second year's at Signal. The only thing I can praise you for is your stance, that was utterly perfect, but I guess you just got it out of luck, given the rest of your fight".

The woman walked up to him and her eyes softened fractionally. Then, in a whisper only for him to hear, she added: "I don't want to crush your dreams, Mr Arc. Maybe a bit of humiliation will push you to work harder. That is how _I_ became a Huntress. Don't give up and, one day, you will, as teenagers say, `wipe the floor` with Mr Winchester".

He smiled at those words, since ironically he could already wipe the floor with Cardin. He could kick his ass to hard to disintegrate it. But those were kind words just the same, or at least kinder than her previous ones. He nodded and got up before heading for the changing room, where his team was already waiting for him. His team, Team VYBL and Team CRDL.

"Hey Jauney Boy, not bad of a match out there", snickered Cardin as he entered, laughing alongside his team. "Too bad it wasn't a match. It was just me thoroughly kicking your sorry ass".

"Eh", he replied lightly. "You never know. Maybe once I get some more training I'll send you through a wall".

Cardin stopped laughing and walked up to him menacingly, only to halt dead in his tracks when Team RW(A)N and Team VYBL blocked his way. "Hey, I just want to have a word with Jauney Boy over there". His voice became sly. "Ohhh... I get it now. He's so weak you fear he will wet himself if a true man talks to him too loudly".

Jaune slowly walked up to him and gestured his friends to step back, his calm never faltering even when Cardin's mocking sneer turned to him. Without missing a beat, Jaune stared at him dead in the eye, and was rewarded by Cardin starting to get uncomfortable. "Cardin, I told you. In a couple of months, I will wipe not only the floor, but also the walls and the ceiling with you", he said, getting a chuckle out of his friends. "And as for now? Meh, I'm not worried. I've got my back covered by seven who could kick your ass through a wall of steel. And I'm not joking".

Nobody doubted him.

"As I thought, then. You're a coward hiding behind those motherfuckers", spat Cardin, literally spitting some drops of saliva on Jaune, who wiped his face with a disgusted expression. "You hide behind your little friends because you can't handle your own-own-ooooohhh... WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?".

Jaune, still keeping him up with both hands, smirked. "I may not be the best at fighting, but I _am_ strong, Cardin. And believe me, you don't want me to _show_ you just how strong I am". Nora grumbled, clearly disappointed she wouldn't get to see Cardin pummelled. "So, now, you're gonna take that back. And you're _not_ gonna insult my friends _ever_ again. Did I make myself clear?".

Cardin spat on his face in response, and everyone stepped forward to enter the fray, but Jaune was quicker. He dropped Cardin and ripped his jacket off, ignoring the protests from the owner, using it to wipe his face clean. "You know Cardin, you should have a dentist take a look at your teeth. They let the spit out when you speak".

Cardin growled and prepared to leap on him, but the stormy expressions on the faces of Jaune's friends made him change his mind. Grumbling something about damn cowards with lots of friends, he and his team made themselves scarce. An awkward silence fell on the remaining eight, and Jaune really didn't feel like breaking it. It had been embarrassing enough to have to lose to Cardin, but for the bully to try and intimidate the _Prince of the Grimm_ , and for he himself to have not to kill him outright, that was really filling him with shame.

"Jaune... can we speak for a second?", asked Pyrrha, standing in a corner. Since the others seemed very interested in the walls, floor and ceiling whenever he tried to meet their eyes, he shrugged and walked up to the redhead. "Jaune... that was a false, wasn't it?".

Jaune stared at her, surprised. Yes, it was probably clear to her that he had been pretending, and pretending poorly too, but he was sure that if someone was bound to call him out on that, it would've been Yang, or Weiss. Surely not Pyrrha. He opened his mouth to deny, or to blame it to a very bad night, but Hazel's ever wise words came back to his mind. So far, they had helped him a lot. _'Honesty... Truth... Or at least part of the truth'_ , he repeated his uncle's words a few times to decide on the right way to put it.

"Yes", he finally admitted, going for the simplest way. "Yes, it was".

"Why?".

Ah, the question of the millennium. _'Because I'm kinda trying to draw attention away from my true pow...er... It's so simple!'_. And suddenly, he was grateful it had been Pyrrha the one who had called him out on that. "Why did _you_ hold back with Mordree?".

Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she blushed in embarrassment. "You... you saw that?".

"Yep, I did, and you were holding back", he replied cheerfully.

"So... you held back for the same reason I did?".

"Kinda. I'm not famous. I just don't want the attention on me because `oh Oum, look, there's the Supreme Huntsman who can kill a Death Stalker barehanded and while blindfolded!`. I just want to attend Beacon in peace. I may not be a very good actor, but I decided to give the match while I fought, so I really didn't have much time to plan". He sighed. "I'm a lot stronger than that, and I guess you already knew. Without any offence, and with all my sympathy, I'd hate to be in your position. The best of the best? It may be good if you're fighting an Oum damned Grimm, but not if you just have to aim fake smiles to cameras because you're good at fighting other people".

She winced.

"Sorry, that was harsh", he apologized, ashamed of his own words. "What I mean is that I don't want the fame, or the glory. Our job is to fight, and we fight. There is no glory in that. The only glory is in knowing when to stop fighting".

Pyrrha nodded, and then her eyes widened in a sudden inspiration. "We're friends, right?. Could you... do you think you could defeat _me?_ ".

"Yes". There was no doubt about it. He would just have to surprise her with his non-metallic weapons and land two or three good hits. His strength and his blade would bring her Aura down a few notches. "Yes, I think so".

If she was offended by the insinuation, she didn't show it. "Would you... would you spar with me while with all our friends... and both of us going all out?", she asked, and he cocked an eyebrow. "I mean... I...".

She sighed. "Everyone is very friendly, but... I'm just too famous even for them", she explained with a pained expression, glancing at the others. They were still staring at several lockers or at the ceiling. "They probably feel intimidated because I always win. Even in the case you lose, if you can give me a hard time, you would show them I'm not as invincible as they think".

 _'Lie'_ , a voice in his head, terribly similar to Watts', said with determination.

 _'Blackmail'_ , said Cinder.

 _'Kill her'_. He almost facepalmed. _'Shut up, dad'_.

 _'Honesty, Noir, honesty is the key for friendship, lies are the key for alliances'_ , said Hazel, the most fatherly figure he'd ever had. Apparently, after losing his little sister, Hazel had become really attached to the Callows children. To the point of giving actually good advice. _'Thanks Uncle Hazel, you're the best. And this time, you can tell Uncle Watts'_.

"Sure", he said with a smile. "Where?".

#####

Fighting Pyrrha made him a lot more nervous than fighting Cardin. Where Cardin was just a brute who used his strength to overpower his opponents, Pyrrha was fast and organized. Any offensive against her would've met a firm and skilled resistance, and every parry or dodge would be a close one. Plus, he he wouldn't be able to just transform and defeat her in his Grimm form. The match would be interesting... although probably also painful.

His friends had been utterly suspicious when Pyrrha had announced the spar between them, but they had accepted it without protesting... also because they had no say in it. Of course, they had to wait until everyone was gone from the arena in order to actually fight, but they weren't worried. Combat Class was the last class of the day, so they just played cards, and Jaune proved to everyone that he was indeed an unmatched monster at poker, winning over two hundreds lien from the others before they finally called it quits. In the end, he gave all his winnings back in order to avoid hostility.

His stance was much firmer than with Cardin, and his body was tense, ready to fight, but he was smiling warmly at his opponent, who was as ready as he was. The two of them had stepped on the stage under the gaze of Team RWAN and Team VYBL, and he could almost _feel_ Pyrrha's tension under her calm façade. _'She must be used to hiding it'_ , he reasoned. She was a famous champion, after all.

"Begin!", shouted Yang, Nora and Ruby at the same time. Ren, Blake and Weiss remained silent, but their eyes were glued to the battlefield.

Pyrrha immediately switched Miló into its rifle form and shot a few rounds, all of which just bounced off his shield. He peeked from over the edge of his defence and got a bullet whizzing past his ear in exchange. Deciding to step things up a notch, he sheathed Crocea Mors into his shield and folded it closed to activate the _third_ mode. Watts had told him that he would need a ranged weapon in order to fight at his fullest, and since in his Grimm form he could just shoot feather-arrows like a Nevermore, he only needed a ranged weapon in his human form.

Of course, Watts had overdone things quite a bit.

The inner mechanisms of the weapon whirred softly as the handle moved on a side of the now-scabbard shield, and then the very scabbard modified itself with a louder sound of moving gears and tiny mechanisms. He was utterly glad it had been Uncle Watts the one who designed Crocea Mors: he wouldn't have trusted anyone else to make such a complex weapon... except for Salem herself, of course. In slightly less than a second, he leaned his ranged weapon on his shoulder and smirked at Pyrrha's shocked expression.

And then he fired a single missile.

Knowing perfectly well that trying to block a bazooka's shot would've just made it explode against her shield, Pyrrha dived on a side, letting the small rocket fly past her and explode against the kinetic shield that protected the arena. She took advantage of the long reload time to cross the distance between them and bash him with her shield, frowning when he barely noticed it. In response, he just swung his bazooka like a large staff, and she was forced to step back to avoid being crushed. Instead, the blow hit the ground, shattering it with ease. Taking advantage of Pyrrha's surprise, he switched Crocea Mors back to its sword and shield mode, and pressed on.

It was a pity neither of them looked at the public, because everyone else was just about slack-jawed.

Pyrrha was fast, but she wasn't a Prince of the Grimm. Most of her attacks were parried or dodged, and even the few that landed did nothing to stop him. They didn't even _slow_ him down. Pyrrha pushed his blade back with her shield to slash at his legs, and he took the hit with ease before spinning on himself and crashing his shield against Pyrrha's sending her flying from the sheer fore of the impact. She landed on her feet and turned Miló into rifle, shooting a few rounds that simply met his shield.

Deciding to step things up another notch, Pyrrha threw Akoúo, using her Semblance to make it come back to hit him over and over again. Taking advantage of her temporarily shieldless state, he sheathed Crocea Mors into the shield and turned it into a short but heavy broadsword, charging the redhead head on and swatting her shield aside when it came down to intercept him. Without missing a beat, Pyrrha dodged the first slash and parried the second, although she winced at the force behind it. Jaune winced too, apologetically. The two of them continued to hack and dodge for a few more seconds before they parted again.

And then Pyrrha came charging back in, having retrieved her shield, and he simply let her throw him to the ground and sit on his chest with her weapon at his neck. Everyone else would've lost in such a position, but everyone else wasn't the son of Tyrian Callows. Ignoring the blade cutting into his Aura reserves, he bent upward and placed his shins on the sides of Pyrrha's torso, just under her armpits. She barely had time to widen her eyes in surprise before he threw her up in the air, and when she came down, he was fully ready with Crocea Mors in broadsword mode.

He smirked when the girl glowed black for a second, clearly trying to influence his weapon so for it to miss. His own Aura had been lowered in the yellow by her relentless assault, while she was still in the green although barely, but he intended to change that very soon. After all, it was already ten minutes they were sparring, and usual spars normally lasted from ten seconds to three minutes. She had been slowly cutting down his Aura for ten minutes now. It was time for him to pay her back in kind.

Had he been in his Grimm form, with his katars, he would've preferred to fight more like her: putting speed over strength. But Crocea Mors wasn't good for speed. The weapon served to make a stand against hordes of enemies. He could as well be a fortress with it. And now he would show Pyrrha just how hard a fortress could hit.

She tried to flip in mid-fall, but his sword caught her first, abruptly lowering her Aura of thirty percent. He heard perfectly well the gasps from his public, as well as Pyrrha's half-stifled cry of pain as the blade sent her flying for several yards. He winced at the sound of his blade impacting against his friend's stomach, but she had been the one to ask him to fight her to win, and that was what he was doing.

Pyrrha, however, wasn't four times Mistralian champion for nothing. She recovered quickly and charged him again, slashing and hacking at every inch of him she could reach. Caught with his weapon still in broadsword mode, there was little he could do to defend himself from the attacks, but he tried nonetheless. He knew Pyrrha had noticed her Semblance wasn't affecting his weapons, and he knew she was thinking he was just resisting it. After all, who would suspect someone like him to have weapons made out of _diamond?_ Even Weiss used steel. High quality, Dust infused, professionally worked steel, but steel nonetheless. And if he was right, then Pyrrha would try to do one thing in particular.

Without failing his expectations, Pyrrha stepped back from the fray and glanced at the Aura levels. Jaune's Aura was still in the yellow, but now it was slightly more orange. Pyrrha's was in the yellow, too, although not as low as his own. Ironically, given that those were just percentages, he knew he still had more Aura than Pyrrha herself. He grinned as he stepped forward, swinging his weapon with both hands, and he knew she knew the hit would've hurt even if parried.

So she threw her arms out, resealing what he could only guess was a massive magnetic pulse. A few coins shot out of his pockets, as well as his scroll, but his sword was untouched, just like his armour. He felt horrible as he watched her eyes widen in shock and fear as she realized that even using her Semblance with such a force couldn't stop Crocea Mors. Time seemed to slow down, and he could perfectly see her arms beginning to fold back in front of her, trying to put something between the blade and her body, but it was too late, even for the four times Mistralian champion, to stop the broadsword from making contact with her upper torso.

Time returned to flow normally as Pyrrha was send flying, another thirty percent of her Aura going down in one hit. He winced at the sound of his friend hitting the floor, her Aura well in the red, maybe seven or eight percent. She had asked him to go all out, but now he was kinda regretting accepting the challenge. It would've been better to let her win instead of having to hurt her like that. He could almost _hear_ the future hateful words and the cold silence, he could almost _see_ the future glares and frosty indifference.

Instead, what he heard was Pyrrha's melodic laughter as she staggered on her feet, her weapons laying discarded on the ground, and looked at her Aura level. Then she fell on her knees, still laughing carefree. Fearing for brain damage, he rushed to her side, only to be enveloped in a warm embrace.

"I lost!", she laughed in his shoulder, tears of happiness flowing freely. "I went all out and I lost! I'm not invincible!".

His fear for brain damage only increased.

 _ **And now Pyrrha's gone in the head.**_

 _ **Footnote!**_

 _ **I was thinking of having Jaune slaughter Cardin, but then I thought that the irony of being actually much more powerful, but pretending to be weaker was better. Besides, he beat Pyrrha. Yikes, thirty percent a hit was harsh.**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**And here's the chapter. I may have been delayed in posting this because I was writing the first chapters for two other fics (Remnant Eclipsed and Hellbent) that won't be published anytime soon.**_

 _ **In a review, I've been asked for Jaune's true scores at A Simpler, More Honest Soul. They're at the end of the chapter together with the others.**_

"So?".

Pyrrha and Jaune both winced. After the euphoria -in Pyrrha's case- and the concern -in Jaune's- had passed, there was only one thing left to do and now, in front of Team RWAN and Team VYBL, they had to do it. A very embarrassing thing they would've gladly avoided to do in front of their friends, but they had to.

They had to explain what the heck was that.

"What _the heck_ was that?", asked Yang in disbelief.

"What the heck was _that?_ ", echoed Ruby, shocked.

" _What_ the heck _was_ that?", repeated Weiss, halfway between bewildered and enraged.

"You have a bazooka!", exclaimed Nora, elated.

"You displayed a level of skill I've never seen in someone our age", said Ren, always the rational one. Why couldn't Ozpin have made _him_ the leader?

"That was pretty impressive", admitted Blake, scrutinizing them with keen eyes.

Jaune and Pyrrha exchanged a glance, and the redhead gulped guiltily. "I... Well...", she began uneasily.

"She noticed I was going soft with Cardin and she wanted to see how strong I really was", frankly said Jaune. _'The more truths you give them prior, the less they will expect a lie later. Uh, I'd never have thought I would use Dad's advice'_. "And that was the result".

"I lost!". Pyrrha blushed as the others stared at her for her delighted squeal. "I mean, it's not like I'm a masochist, but it's good to know that I'm not really invincible".

"She doesn't want you to continue treating her as a champion and instead treat her as a girl", explained Jaune bluntly. "She said that sometimes she feels like you are intimidated by her fame and skill, and she wanted to prove you she's not as powerful as you think she is".

"Well, her Semblance _is_ a bit powerful", replied Weiss, raising an eyebrow. "And she _is_ very skilled".

"Meh, she's just a normal girl with good training", shrugged Jaune. "You should see my Aunt C... Jeanne. She trains _all the time_. She's very strong".

"You said we treated you differently", Ruby said to Pyrrha. "But how? I mean, we didn't do it _on purpose_. What did we do?".

"I... I mean, with me you always just speak about combat, training, Dust, school...", she trailed off. "It's not like I'm _nothing_ but those".

"Of course you aren't!", exclaimed Weiss, outraged. "But it's just been a couple of days since the start. We are still getting used to each other. We aren't _comfortable_ with each other yet... what should we talk about if not those?".

Pyrrha lowered her gaze in shame, but Weiss grabbed her chin and forced her to face them all. "Pyrrha Nikos, you can be the most normal person in this world, but it always takes time to adjust to _living_ with other four people. Actually, I should say eight, but in our dorm there are just four beds". Her eyes were sharp and stern. "So you, assuming that in just two days everyone would be best friends, felt depressed that we haven't organized any girls' night yet? Is that what you did? You wanted to spar with Jaune only because in two days we haven't become best friends forever, or whatever that acronym was?".

She averted her eyes and glanced at Jaune, who shrugged helplessly.

"I...".

"Yes, you did. It's clear that was a yes", Weiss cut her off, releasing her chin and sighing. "I will forgive you, especially because your little display of skill and _childishness_ gave us the chance to see how strong Jaune really is".

It was Jaune's time to look away, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"He has a bazooka!", Nora squealed at Ren, pointing at Crocea Mors. "May I have one too, Ren? _Pweaseeee_ ".

"No, Nora, you already have a grenade launcher", replied the green-clad boy without missing a beat.

"So, since we're done with Pyrrha here, let's pass to you, Jaune Arc", said Weiss, and Jaune took a wary step back. "Why didn't you beat Cardin? Given how you fared against Pyrrha, you would've _mowed down_ that idiot".

"I... Well... it's kinda complicated, you know?". He laughed nervously, and then swallowed dryly at Weiss's unimpressed expression. "No, really, it's... It's just that I didn't want too many people to know about my strength... Let's just say...". He sighed and his carefree attitude dropped. "Let's just say that I have no idea how can Pyrrha stand all the attention. I'd hate that. To be recognized just because you are strong... I don't want the fame. Ours is a job, and a miserable one too. We risk our lives against soulless monsters. Fighting is never a glory...".

"The only glory is knowing when to stop", completed Pyrrha, repeating his words from before their match.

Jaune nodded. "I hate tournaments, actually. Fighting other people should be only the extreme case of emergency. When those people are hurting other people. Otherwise, we shouldn't". He then reconsidered his words. "Or rather, I'm okay with spars with friends, and even with spars just to test my strength. Those are fun. But not for glory. Not for fame or money".

Weiss glared at him some more, and then deflated with a sigh. "You two are two dolts", she stated plainly, and no one disagreed. "Two socially inept dolts".

Ruby stepped in with a large smile. "So~", she sang happily. "Can we go to the shooting lane, now? I want to see the firepower of Jaune's bazooka, and its range and its calibre, and all that!".

"Wait, wait, wait!", said Yang. "Does this mean Vomit Boy _did_ beat P-money?".

"I know Yang, I know", sighed Nora, patting her on the shoulder. "You're a bit slow, but we're friends just the same".

"I'm not slow! It's you who is obsessed with sloths!", retorted Yang, and then facepalmed when Nora agreed with enthusiasm. "It's just... I didn't know Vomit Boy had that in him".

"Could you please stop calling us names?", asked Jaune, with a perfectly flat tone.

"Nope. I got one for everyone. Cookie, Ice Queen, Awesome Me, Human Statue, Overcharged, Blake-y, Vomit Boy and P-money!", she grinned at the deadpan stares she received, even from Ruby. "See? I left you at loss of words!".

"Yang, no", Weiss shook her head. "Just no".

"Why not?".

"There's a time and a place for jokes", replied Weiss.

"Was that not it?", asked Yang, offended.

"No, it just wasn't very good", commented Blake, hiding her face in her book when Yang glared at her.

"Well, at least I'm trying", she retorted with a scoff. "No one else does anything to lift the morale".

"Your jokes don't lift the morale, they bury it underground", remarked Weiss.

"Can we go to the shooting lane, now?", asked Ruby, grinning widely.

#####

"So, basically we now know your bazooka isn't very precise although it does have a scope, it has a greater explosive power than Nora's grenade launcher, but it has a longer reload time, and it's really cool", said Ruby as they exited the shooting lane after almost two entire hour of shooting at innocent targets. The others had long made themselves scarce and fled to their dorms.

"You know, Ruby, you're scary when you are like that", replied Jaune, getting a pout out of Ruby. "You were spouting technical details and pointing out all the functions and gears... you honestly looked possessed by a spirit obsessed with weapons".

"Nah, I don't need a spirit to be obsessed", she replied. "I just need a weapon to observe".

"Oh, so that's how you will defeat the criminals you will fight as a Huntress", he laughed. "You will freak out over their weapons and then attack while they're surprised".

"Hey, I don't need to _surprise_ them to beat them", shot back Ruby. "Who is the one who made ten dead centres out of ten in the shooting range?".

"Ruby Rose, because her damn scythe is a high-precision sniper rifle", admitted Jaune, his mirth toned down a notch. "But, honestly, I just need to hit _the target_ , not its centre, to make it explode".

"Disregarding aim will just doom you", wisely remarked Ruby. "Do not forget that the farther you aim, the more important the aim is. An inch when you are at sixty feet can become ten yards when you are at half a mile".

"I'm not sure if taking your advice would be wise or crazy", replied Jaune. "But thanks the same".

"Anytime", she replied merrily, and then frowned. "Hey, Jaune?".

"Yes?".

"When I said I met a Grimm Knight in the forest...", she said. "Did you believe me?".

"That's a question you did right in asking me alone", he sighed. "Why do you ask? And to answer it: I don't see any reason for you to lie. As improbable as it might be, you _could_ have met such a Grimm in the forest. I believe you... although I think you should just forget it. It's already been two days and it hasn't done anything yet... why should it start now?".

"I don't know... actually, I just wanted to know if you believed me or not. Not even Yang believes me. Weiss says it was an hallucination, or we saw him wrong. Pyrrha isn't helping, either, insisting he was a Faunus with a Grimm controlling Semblance". Her expression fell. "Yang says I don't need to lie in order to get attention and I just have to ask... as if I would lie about a _Grimm Knight_ just to get attention. Blake says it's highly improbable those exist, otherwise the world would be in serious trouble of Grimm invasion. Ren says it's impossible for one to have sneaked into the Emerald Forest without anyone noticing, and Nora... Nora wanted to hunt him down, and when I told her it was too dangerous she gave me the silence treatment for ten minutes".

Jaune whistled. Ten minutes of silence from Nora were really a lot. "Nah, I don't think you're lying. But I think that telling the authorities would be a mistake. It would only cause disbelief or panic. Also, if he isn't going to do anything, why force him out?".

"Well, Grimm Knights _were_ considered extremely dangerous", replied Ruby. "Waiting for him could cause casualties... but you're right when you say that nobody would ever go after something seen by a _fifteen_ years old girl, during a very stressful situation, in the middle of a Grimm infested forest".

 _'Infested... let's say there are some Grimm in it'_. "Well, _I_ believe you. You're not the type to make something out of the blue just for attention".

"Thanks Jaune", she smiled. "Hey, I was thinking... about Cardin...".

"What about him?".

"You could say it was a bet with me... or someone else...", she said, pensive. "Yang and I do that a lot. I dunno, I bet... to make Goodwitch angry or... to make a fool of yourself. That's a bet _Yang_ would surely make. We could tell the others and even if Goodwitch will be pissed for that, it's not like students don't do that. I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time a student loses for a bet".

Jaune scratched the back of his head. "And... why would I accept a bet like that?", he said, and Ruby deadpanned at him. "I mean, the best lies are the realistic ones. Why would I accept something like that?".

"I dunno... a date with Yang?", offered Ruby. "Many a guy has accepted bets for that".

"Not my type", shrugged Jaune. "I wouldn't lose for that".

Ruby smirked. "Oh, wait until I tell Yang of this, and you're dead", she said, laughing. "She's not interested in boys, but if someone is not interested in her, she goes psycho. Anyway... liens?".

"Let's just say I have no problem with money", he laughed. "I can't think of anything for which I would bet I could make a fool out of myself".

"Then we say we played truth or dare and I dared you to make a fool out of yourself in a match", offered Ruby. "Right?".

"We should ask the others if they're okay with that, though", countered Jaune, and he didn't like the sly look that spread on the crimsonette's face.

"I'm sure Yang would be _elated_ to play truth or dare", she said with an evil voice. "According to Weiss, Pyrrha feels we aren't very close, so she will join too. Nora is _obviously_ in, and if she's in, then Ren is in too. Weiss will be a little difficult to drag in, as will Blake, but we can call it team bonding, and they have to attend!".

"But team bonding isn't just a team, not two?", asked Jaune, smirking.

"Bah, details. The important thing is for everyone to be there". She smiled. "Come on, let's go ask them to play. It's late, so it will be kind of a night with friends. We can also make it a movie night or a sleepover. Also, Yang wanted to play the second quest of A Simpler, More Honest Soul, so we can all play together!".

"Sounds good to me", he laughed. "So it's a game night? Think you can convince Yang to organize it?".

"Of course I can!".

#####

"So, is everybody ready for the incredible truth or dare by Yang Xiao Long, the most awesome...".

"Get on with it!".

"...hot, cool and badass girl _ever?_ ", continued Yang, oblivious to Weiss's interruption. "Good, now let's determine the method we'll use. We can either have turns and each decide who to ask to, or we can spin a bottle, or we can... no, okay one of those two".

"I guess I would choose to spin the bottle", said Ren.

"Oh, and I have an idea: if you choose dare, and you fail, or you forfeit, you spin the bottle and kiss the one who exit". Yang cackled at the loud protests. "Come on, everyone must do it. Even Ruby, and that means I'm really into this".

Ruby's eyes went as wide as disks. "Even _me?_ ", she whispered. "Yang, you _never_ let me do this kind of things".

"You will be living with six other people, all two years older than you are, for the next four years", said Yang. "I need to accept that you can act like we do... even if I don't like it".

Her eyes flashed red for a second. "But I'll kill whoever dares her to do something lewd", she added menacingly.

"A kiss as forfeit is lewd enough or she has a different punishment?", asked Ren, flatly.

"No... ugh... she can do that", replied Yang, wincing. "If we can do this and she's in the gang... I guess she... she'll... have to... to kiss... ugh".

"There is no need to have to little faith in me, you know?", deadpanned Ruby. "Nobody's _that_ bad at kissing".

Weiss blushed and looked away, immediately earning the attention of the others. "W-What?! W-Why are you staring at me?!".

"You _do_ suck at kissing!", laughed Yang, and laughed more when Weiss turned of the shade of Pyrrha's hair.

"I-It w-wasn't _me!_ ", she choked out. "I-It w-w-was _him!_ ".

"Was he disgusted by it~?", asked the blonde. "Did he washed his mouth?".

"No, he...". Weiss bit her lip. "He was allergic to the perfume I was wearing, and by kissing, she got too near... she went into anaphylactic shock".

Everyone was silent for a second. They would probably doubt her and tell her it was a good joke... probably... they would do it, right?

Nope. They laughed their asses off.

It took them five minutes before they could speak again, and they were all red for the exertion. Weiss was almost steaming from her cheeks for all the embarrassment, and Yang was gasping for air. "Okay, now: who is _good_ at kissing?".

"I am", said Jaune, raising his hand. "If what I've been told is right, I'm really good".

"Oh, and who did you kiss?", asked the Y of Team VYBL.

"Mostly my sister... Joan, but I practised with all my sisters", replied Jaune, and then looked around nervously as the others fell silent, shocked. "W-What?".

"Y-You kissed your _sisters?_ ", Yang croaked out.

"Yep. Not like we were dating, but we agreed we could need some practice and since we were the only ones we could practise with, we did", shrugged Jaune. "Hey, it's not like I got one of my sisters _pregnant_ ".

Just imagining it knocked Yang out cold. Blake sighed as she began slapping her face, trying to get some life back into her partner. "Way to go, Jaune".

"What? I said I _didn't!_ ", he exclaimed, glancing at the shell-shocked expression on Pyrrha's, Weiss's, Ruby's and Ren's faces. "Hey, incest is only when there are feelings or sex. With who should we have practised? With our _uncles?_ ".

"Ugh, no", said Weiss. "But you could have just _not_ practised".

"Sticks-in-the-mud, all of you", he snorted. "Besides, it's not like there was anyone to tell us not to. Our uncles and our parents are almost always busy. I swear, I see my mother something like twice a month... when I see her often".

Their expressions softened fractionally, and then Nora shrugged. "Well, Ren and I practised like he did, and we're not _together-together_ ", she said, although it was clear to everyone but Ren that she was unhappy to deny those last two words. Lie Ren, watch out. "So it's not that strange".

"Thanks Nora".

"Now can we play?", she said, grabbing Ren and dropping him on the floor. "Let's make turns. Since Yang had the idea, she starts".

Yang, now revived by Blake, sat beside her. "Perfect! Now, everyone sit down". She waited for everyone to have sat before continuing. "Okay. Weiss, truth or dare?".

"Truth".

"Wonderful", she grinned. "Have you ever imagined yourself having sex with a boy you liked?".

Weiss went atomic red at that. "Y-Yang!", she screeched. "What kind of outrageous question is that!?".

"Okay, your turn", she shrugged. "The answer was a clear yes".

Weiss stayed red, but didn't deny. "Stupid hormones. Ren, truth or dare?".

"Truth".

The white-haired girl stole a look at Yang before sighing. "Following Yang's line of questions, have you ever imagined yourself having sex with Nora?".

Ren fainted, followed by Nora. Everyone else began laughing like madwomen plus one madman, and Yang tried to get the two back to the real world. "Ren, your turn".

"Jaune, truth or dare?".

"Dare". Everyone gasped. A dare so early during the game. Yang was begging Ren to make it harsh.

"Spin the bottle, and kiss who exits. If it points to you, you're safe", he said, and then, under Yang's pleading look, he sighed. " _With tongue_ , I might add".

Jaune shrugged and grabbed the bottle -still full of soda- from Yang, placing it in the centre and spinning it with force. It began to whirl so fast it was just a blur.

And it spun.

And it spun.

And spun.

"God, how much will this last?".

And spun.

And spun.

And finally stopped, pointing halfway between Ruby and Blake. Blake, with better reflexes, jumped back, on Weiss's bed, while Ruby blushed and went wide-eyed. Everyone looked at Yang, the judge, who looked troubled. Finally, she sighed and whimpered.

"Fine, go on. Kiss her", she said, gesturing to Ruby and then hiding behind Pyrrha's bed. "But I don't want to see".

Jaune turned to the crimsonette, whose face was now of the colour of her hair, and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Ruby, you don't have to do it if you don't want to", he reassured her.

"Are you saying I'm not brave enough to kiss you?", replied Ruby. Her competitiveness kicked in and she grabbed Jaune by the shoulder, kissing him head on... or rather lips on. She bit back a moan at his taste. It was a warm, soothing flavour, mixed with a hint of lemon and something else. Something metallic, almost.

Only when his own lips parted she realized exactly what she was doing, but she had no time to squeal before something very warm, wet, soft and _definitely good_ grazed her tongue. She froze for a fraction of seconds before her instincts kicked in and she responded to his action, savouring his taste even more. Yes, there was definitely something metallic in it, although she couldn't really place it. She was sure to have tasted it somewhere else, surely not in another kiss, but she couldn't remember. Especially because her capability to remember anything or process anything apart his soft and warm lips on hers, and his tongue lazily dancing with hers.

He pulled away with an encouraging smile, and was quick to catch her when she slumped to the ground. "Yang, you can look, it's over".

"Good", said the blonde, peeking over the sheets to assess the situation. "Okay, perfect".

"Very well. Pyrrha, truth or dare?"

#####

"Come on, Ice Queen, show us your mighty scores!", begged Yang, almost whining. "I'll show you mine!".

"Fine!", she scoffed. "Here! But the nickname is not decided by me!".

 _Weiss Schnee, the Snow Angel_

 _Duellist lvl 17_

 _Strength 85%_

 _Speed 145%_

 _Agility 150%_

 _Stamina 90%_

 _Aura 90%_

"SNOW ANGEL!", screamed Yang, elated beyond definition. "SNOW ANGEL!".

"Shut up and show us yours", grumbled Weiss, embarrassed.

"Fine with me!", laughed Yang.

 _Yang Xiao Long, the Active Volcano_

 _Front Line Master lvl 17_

 _Strength 195%_

 _Speed 110%_

 _Agility 105%_

 _Stamina 170%_

 _Aura 140%_

"Wow, not bad", whistled Jaune, praising Yang. "Active Volcano, eh?".

"Yep, I'm awesome", she laughed, and then screamed when Nora appeared beside her with a maniacal glint in her eyes.

"Look at mine!".

 _Nora Valkyrie, the Harbinger of Doom_

 _Brutal Fight Master lvl 17_

 _Strength 200%_

 _Speed 100%_

 _Agility 100%_

 _Stamina 180%_

 _Aura 135%_

"Harbinger of Doom!", she exclaimed happily. "And now... look at Ren!".

"Nora, please...".

The pleas of the boy went unheeded.

 _Lie Ren, the Sloth Ninja_

 _Acrobat Warrior lvl 16_

 _Strength 110%_

 _Speed 150%_

 _Agility 160%_

 _Stamina 110%_

 _Aura 115%_

"And with those, we're all!", said Nora.

A polite cough interrupted them. Everyone turned to Jaune, who scratched the back of his head. "Well... I... Let's just say I toned down my scores last time. I've undergone a very rigorous training and the people who trained me were very good at fighting", he said. "This being said... those are my true scores".

 _Jaune Arc, the Redeeming Star_

 _Paladin lvl 23_

 _Strength 540%_

 _Speed 300%_

 _Agility 340%_

 _Stamina 620%_

 _Aura 470%_

"WHAT THE HECK!?".

In his office, Ozpin fainted as the paperwork of yet another day went ruined by the coffee. Glynda would have his head for that. In that moment, he couldn't care less, given the heart attack he had just had.

 _ **Nothing like the truth to knock people out.**_

 _ **So, since Lancaster has disintegrated Arkos since the last chapter in the voting (in the time Arkos got 1 vote, Lancaster got 13... talk about going fast), I gave you all a Lancaster scene. And yes, the metallic taste in Jaune's mouth is blood, although he doesn't**_ **have** ** _blood in his mouth. He just tastes like it._**

 ** _And before you ask, no, I won't write of incest. It's just that I doubt a Grimm abomination like Salem or her servants would really care to tell the Callows (Arcs) not to do that. I myself have never practised incest nor heard of it second-hand, so spare your breath and don't comment on it, please._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Here's a new chapter. As you can see, I've created a new fanfiction, called Hellbent, and I've decided that the loser ship of this fic's voting pool will be the actual ship in that fic. I know it's a different fic, but honestly that's what I can offer. If someone wants to make his/her own version of this fic with another ship, they're welcome, and they can ask me for advice or just to chat a bit.**_

 _ **Enjoy the chapter.**_

They had all died.

They had fought at their hardest, battling Grimm after Grimm, disintegrating them mercilessly. They had managed to avoid being cornered by a horde of Ursai, but in the end everything was for nothing. Their enemies were simply too powerful.

They had all died.

 _2:44:35 – Redeeming Star deals 2305 damages to Thanatos, the Grimm Knight._

"Okay, this far we were all good, right?", asked Yang. "I still had 6.000 hit points".

"3.600", replied Ren, flatly. "Still at maximum".

"4.500", chirped Nora. "Got a few hits from the Ursai".

"2.000", sulked Weiss. "Got hit by the Grimm Knight".

"I told you they were strong", shrugged Ruby. "2.800".

"5.000", stated Pyrrha. "Still at maximum, like Ren".

Everyone turned to Jaune, who sighed. "I got hit, and I still was at 16.000", he responded, and no one was even shocked any more by his unfairly massive amount of Aura. "Go on reading the timeline".

 _2:44:45 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2575 damages to Snow Angel_

 _2:44:45 – Snow Angel: death_

"Out", announced Weiss.

 _2:44:47 – Deimos, the Grimm Knight deals 2486 damages to Harbinger of Doom_

 _2:44:49 – Counterattack from Deimos, the Grimm Knight deals 2552 damages to Harbinger of Doom_

 _2:44:49 – Harbinger of Doom: death_

"And now I'm out too", said Nora, sighing. "I just attacked. What's next, Yang?".

 _2:44:52 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight activates his Storm of Strikes ability_

 _2:44:53 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2384 damages to Red Reaper_

 _2:44:53 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2862 damages to Red Reaper_

 _2:44:53 – Red Reaper: death_

"Out", grumbled Ruby, gesturing Yang to go on reading.

 _2:44:53 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2576 damages to Sloth Ninja_

 _2:44:53 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2384 damages to Redeeming Star_

 _2:44:54 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2865 damages to Redeeming Star_

 _2:44:54 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2684 damages to Sloth Ninja_

 _2:44:54 – Sloth Ninja: death_

"I'm dead", stated Ren, without surprise. Nora gasped and latched to his arm, trying to comfort her dead partner.

"Come on, it goes worse now", joked Yang.

 _2:44:54 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight: critical x3_

 _2:44:54 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight activates his Mastery of Criticals ability x5_

 _2:44:54 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 12925 damages to Bronze Hoplite_

 _2:44:54 – Bronze Hoplite: death_

"Out in a single hit", huffed Pyrrha. "Talk about unfair".

 _2:44:54 – Active Volcano activates her Fight of Fury mode and takes 752 damages from it_

 _2:44:55 – Active Volcano deals 1858 damages to Deimos, the Grimm Knight_

 _2:44:55 – Active Volcano deals 1586 damages to Deimos, the Grimm Knight_

"Look, I need to use Fight of Fury to deal some damage, and I _still_ can't deal as much as one of those Grimm Knights", grumbled Yang.

"Or Jaune", added Ruby.

"Or Jaune", nodded Yang.

Jaune wiped some sweat off his brow.

 _2:44:58 – Deimos, the Grimm Knight activates his Maul of the Grimm ability_

 _2:45:01 – Deimos, the Grimm Knight: critical x2_

 _2:45:01 – Deimos, the Grimm Knight has won the coin toss for his Maul of the Grimm ability._

 _2:45:01 – Deimos, the Grimm Knight deals 5372 damages to Active Volcano_

 _2:45:01 – Active Volcano: death_

"Hadn't I used 700 hit points to activate Fight of Fury, I would've survived the hit but...". She sighed. "And now there's just Jaune left".

 _2:45:03 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2557 damages to Redeeming Star_

 _2:45:05 – Redeeming Star: critical x4_

 _2:45:05 – Redeeming Star activates his Strike Down ability_

 _2:45:05 – Redeeming Star activates his Critical of Death ability_

 _2:45:05 – Redeeming Star activates his Bane of the Grimm ability_

 _2:45:05 – Redeeming Star deals 10266 damages to Deimos, the Grimm Knight_

 _2:45:05 – Redeeming Star deals 8418 damages to Deimos, the Grimm Knight_

 _2:45:05 – Redeeming Star deals 11425 damages to Deimos, the Grimm Knight_

 _2:45:05 – Deimos, the Grimm Knight: death_

 _2:45:06 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight activates his Strike of Death ability_

 _2:45:06 – Thanatos, the Grimm Knight deals 2848 damages to Redeeming Star_

 _2:45:06 – Redeeming Star failed his save roll_

 _2:45:06 – Strike of Death deals 8451 damages to Redeeming Star_

 _2:45:06 – Redeeming Star: death_

"So, you can all guess that yesterday night had been a failure", announced Yang. "Now: where did we go wrong?".

"Maybe we should've left the Ursai alone instead of fighting them first?", proposed Nora, for once serious. Breaking legs and Grimm was a serious matter, after all. "After all, they packed a mean punch, and even if we lost less than forty seconds in killing the Ursai, you saw how they killed us all in literally twenty seconds".

"Good point, but I think that we went wrong by gathering all together", said Ren. "Thanatos managed to kill me, Ruby and Pyrrha all in two seconds because of his Storm of Strikes, but he can't move while he attacks in that mode, so had we been less crowded together, he would've killed just one of us".

"Still, it's obvious that those Grimm Knights are probably too powerful for us. Heck, they deal two thousands base damage plus all the bonuses and random... it's monstrous! No offence, Jaune", Yang laughed nervously when he raised an eyebrow at her. "But seriously, fighting them on even terrain is impossible, at least for us".

"Yeah, we would need at least another Jaune", nodded Ruby. "It's clear that we need his high scores. Maybe the six of us might be able to beat one Grimm Knight, even if Blake and Jaune don't play... but it'd be hard".

"Students, are you paying attention?".

"Of course, Professor!", absent-mindedly replied Yang. "Still, that game has been made to be playable, right? Last time you won and Jaune had toned down his scores. Why did we lose now?".

"Because they used teamwork", replied Jaune. "And while we tried, too, they just massacred you all because you can take only a couple of hits from them. Their biggest threats were Yang and Pyrrha but... well, you took five thousands and _twelve_ thousands damages".

"I know", both of them said in unison.

"Teamwork can do great things, but if each of the team members goes down with one or two hits...". He shrugged. "The team gets thinned down pretty quickly. I had no chance against those two on my own, so I just used all my abilities in one hit... and I killed Deimos"

"And then Thanatos reminded you of his existence by dealing you ten thousands damages". Weiss scoffed, disgusted. "What kind of videogame boss deals ten thousands damages?".

"A Grimm Knight using his abilities", replied Ruby. "They're strong".

"Students, I'd like your attention on the ongoing lesson, not on your chatter".

"No problem, Professor Port! We're paying attention!", shot back Yang.

"So much that you can't even tell who is your current professor", sarcastically drawled Dr Oobleck from his desk, and the class erupted in laughters.

"I... ehm...". Yang shrank back in her seat, as red as Pyrrha's hair.

"So, what are you talking about, Ms Xiao Long?", asked the professor, his eyes sharp and merciless. "Care to share?".

"I...".

"She was talking about a videogame, and how the final boss of said videogame is a Grimm Knight and it's basically invincible", Weiss ratted her out, careful to say `she` and not `us`.

"Ah... Grimm Knights...". Suddenly, the professor was serious. "Does any of you know the stories about the Grimm Knights?".

Ruby's hand shot in the air. "I do, doctor!".

"Speak, Ms Rose".

"The Grimm Knights were apparently intelligent Grimm with human-like sentience. They were ridiculously powerful", she listed off, excited. "They could command the Grimm and in the stories they lead armies of Grimm against humanity, although the tale of the Grimm and the Maiden tells that their sentience can also be their doom".

"What is this `the Grimm and the Maiden` tale?", asked Russel, Cardin's teammate, honestly curious.

"It's a legend that tells the story of Darkness, the `Grimm`, a Grimm Knight that apparently lived centuries ago", said Dr Oobleck. "He fell in love with a human girl, the `Maiden`, called Invern. He refused to lead the Grimm against the humans like the other Grimm Knights had ordered him, and instead sided with humanity". The man looked away from the students. "It's a very sad tale. Apparently, the humans accepted his help only to stab him in the back the second the war was over, won thanks to him. And then they killed Invern for having fallen in love with a Grimm. It's a tale of how, sometimes, the humans are worse than the Grimm".

Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably in her seat and looked at Jaune.

"However, it is just a fairy tale, something that has no real foundation. In reality, the Grimm Knights are a kind of Grimm, and they aren't sentient. They are also called Black Swords because of the bone broadswords they use to fight". He sighed dramatically. "Centuries ago, people must've seen then and mistaken them for intelligent beings. While the Black Swords are capable of basic strategy, they are _not_ sentient. A sentient Grimm like in the legends doesn't exist".

"I've seen one".

Oobleck looked at Ruby, raising an eyebrow. "Care to repeat, Ms Rose?".

"I've seen a Grimm Knight... a sentient Grimm", she specified, ignoring Yang's exasperation, Weiss's clear signals to shut up, Pyrrha's disbelieving expression, Ren's deadpan, Blake's own flat stare and Jaune's panicked expression. As usual, Nora was just grinning. "In the Emerald Forest. We were fighting a Death Stalker and he stormed in, and the Death Stalker obeyed to him... it was quite scared by him too".

"Ms Rose, there are just two facts that are off in your tale", calmly said Oobleck. "One: Grimm Knights don't exist. Two: even if they did, you'd be dead if you had really met one".

The class erupted in hushed whispers and some snickers. Ruby looked crestfallen, but the professor was unfazed by that. He was just stating the truth, and in his opinion he'd just done her a favour by avoiding her to be disillusioned later in life. In his opinion. In real life, he earned a red-eyed glare from Yang and a blue-eyed flaming glare from Jaune, one because he had made her sister sad, and the other because he hadn't believed it... although Jaune was also grateful he hadn't believed her. He really didn't need professional Huntsmen on his tail.

"A bit harsh there, don't you think, Professor?", glared Yang.

"It's Doctor", he corrected immediately. "And Ms Rose needs to know that those are just tales. There isn't, and never will be, a so-called Grimm Knight... especially not in our forest".

"Are you sure of that?", asked Jaune, going against his survival instincts to help Ruby. Damned advice from Hazel. It was good advice, but sometimes it was hard. "Ruby isn't the kind of person to just lie like that".

"Oh, no. I'm sure she believes in what she says", he reassured them. "But sometimes the stress of battle can deceive the senses. She might've imagined it".

"And what if she hasn't?", Jaune pressed on.

Oobleck sighed and adjusted his glasses on his nose. "Honestly? If the Grimm Knights _did_ exist and if Ms Rose _had_ seen one in the Emerald Forest, and had _miraculously_ managed to escape alive?". He paused for effect. "We'd either have to evacuate immediately, or we'd all die".

A grave silence fell over them.

"In legends, Grimm Knights are seen only at the lead of massive armies of Grimm, and even with all our Huntsmen here at Beacon, this school can't defend itself from such a threat. We should leave Vale unguarded, and the Grimm would feast upon the defenceless civilians", he continued. "Or, in the best case scenario, we would have a powerful sentient being with a purpose and a _reason_ for which it's remaining hidden. It could have plans and purposes... but fortunately those creatures don't exist".

Ruby whimpered. Pyrrha was white. Weiss's eyes were wide. Jaune felt sorry for them. They _had_ seen a Grimm Knight -although he preferred the name Noir Callows- and they'd just been told the school itself would be in danger. They must've been terrified beyond definition.

"Team meeting after lessons", whispered Ruby. "We have a big problem".

Team VYBL ignored them.

#####

"This is our situation", stated Ruby, pacing back and forth in their dorm. "If what Oobleck said is true, we have a freaking Grimm Knight wandering around Beacon. Tomorrow we have the trip to Forever Fall, remember? So: what do we do?".

"We go after him?", proposed Weiss. "If the statistics of that game, Honest Soul, are realistic, Team RWAN plus Team VYBL should be able to beat a Grimm Knight".

"If even Oobleck thinks they do not exist, maybe Honest Soul isn't the most reliable source of information", offered Jaune, trying to distract them.

"Of course!", nodded Weiss. "It's a videogame. Bosses are strengthened because otherwise people would always win. It's probably weaker than that".

 _'Dolt'_ , commented Jaune, taking a page from her own book.

"So tomorrow, at Forever Fall, we will try and find him, okay?", asked Ruby, looking around. "I know you didn't believe me, but if there's even the faintest chance that there _is_ such an entity out there, that powerful, and evil... it would be bad".

"You can say that", agreed Pyrrha.

"Fine with me", said Weiss, shrugging as if she wasn't accepting to go after what was probably one of the most dangerous Grimm in existence. "Let's hunt this Grimm Knight down".

"Noir".

"What?", asked Weiss, surprised.

"He said his name was Noir. Noir Callows", explained Ruby. "If he's a sentient being, it's normal for him to have a name, don't you think?".

"So we're gonna go after this Noir?", asked Jaune, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.

"Tomorrow, at Forever Fall", the other three said in unison.

"Alone?", he pressed on. "I don't think that's a good idea... he might be too much for y-us...".

"You're right", nodded Ruby, and he relaxed, even having to stifle a sigh of relief. That was close. "We should definitely ask Team VYBL to come too. Nora will accept immediately, and since she's team leader, the others will come as well".

No. No. No no no no no. "Wouldn't that put them at risk, too?", he asked miserably. _'Well, it won't be that bad... after all,_ I _am Noir Callows. I doubt they will find me'_.

"We can handle that", shrugged Ruby, and for once Weiss agreed.

"Also, he let us go the first time, and he let _me_ go more than a week ago, when I first met him", recalled Pyrrha. "So attracting attention by killing us is probably out of his plans. We have to force him to come out of hiding".

Jaune groaned inwardly. That was going to be heavy... but probably hilarious. Watching them search for him, _with him_... yes, it was worth a laugh or two.

"And maybe discover his plans", added Weiss. "Then we would expose him to the authority, that will turn him in, and we'll get extra credits for our actions!".

Jaune banged his head against the wall. "And you think that, if he's really so powerful he's not concerned about letting witnesses live, we would be able to expose him?".

"Not difficult", triumphantly said Ruby, taking out her scroll. "We can take pictures and make videos".

"That everyone will consider a fake", retorted Jaune.

"But they would at least investigate, on the off-chance of it being true", argued the crimsonette. "And when they will... pam! Everyone knows about the Grimm Knights".

"And that would cause panic, only attracting more Grimm", shot back the blond.

"Then the authority will keep quite about it, and hunt him down in secret", conspirationally whispered Ruby. "And we will get lots of extra credits, plus a statue in Beacon's courtyard!".

"Ruby, the authority won't believe it. It's sadly how the world works. They will be like Oobleck and say you've just modified the pictures", replied Jaune. "You could get in trouble for terrorism, you know, with something like that? Revealing the existence of a freakingly powerful type of Grimm? I doubt they would believe it. Weiss, isn't that true?".

The girl shrank back under their gazes and shrugged. "I fear so, Ruby. Politics is a complicated matter, and it rarely has the best interests of the population at heart, but more the best interests of the politicians".

"But that's corruption!", protested Ruby.

"Is there a single politician who's not corrupted in some way?", rhetorically asked Weiss. "And even if there is, do you think the corrupted ones would let him go on governing?".

"But the Huntsmen would take them down", whined the smaller girl. "They fight the baddies".

"But you often don't know when a politician is corrupted or not. Not until the end, when said politician is no more important to other politicians, and only then his illegal businesses are uncovered and he is condemned". Weiss sighed. "It's not a good government, but it is what we have. Maybe one day it will be better, but until that day, this will have to suffice".

Ruby looked crestfallen, but more and more determination was seeping into her expression as time passed. "Very well then", she said with finality. "If this Noir Callows really doesn't want to kill us because he wants to remain hidden, the least we can do is to give him hell".

"Even if that get us in trouble, and maybe even killed?", asked Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha, out there there is a Grimm that is planning something, and since it's a Grimm those plans will probably be to harm people. Many people", said Ruby. "If we are the only ones who can do something about it, because no one else believes us, shouldn't we do something? And even if we died without making a difference, wouldn't it be better than just having sat still, letting said Grimm harm innocents?".

There was a long silence after that. No one expected such a speech from the fifteen-year-old girl, but no one was surprised, either. They had known each other only for a few days, but they already knew that Ruby was like that. She could be childish and naive, and then volunteer for a suicide mission just in the off-chance she could help people. Jaune had to admit that it was for people like her that humanity was better than the Grimm. People like her, like Pyrrha, like Weiss, like Team VYBL. People who, despite being too weak to change the world, would still give it all before being defeated. People who would fight for what they believed was right.

It was for people like them that Jaune had always been different from the other underlings of Salem. Those people wanted humanity to end, or to pay for what they had to suffer by its hands. He despised humanity. Humanity was divided, it hated itself, and even while facing the threat of the Grimm, it wouldn't stand united, but instead in many small fractions. But for people like those, like Team RW(A)N and Team VYBL, and for all the other people, Huntsmen and not, who did their best to help, not out of personal glory or ego, but just to help... it was for those people he would be ready to fight.

Idly, in the back of his mind, unheeded by Jaune himself, a tiny thought surfaced. The title of a fairy tale he had read over and over again back at Salem's fortress. A tale he had always wished to come true. A tale that spoke of unity, even thought it also spoke of betrayal and hatred. It ended tragically, but it was a particular part of it he had always loved. Directly from the Grimm and the Maiden, the chapter where Vero, the Grimm Knight, revealed himself to Invern.

 _"And even now, now that I know, I know what you are... I can't bring myself to hate you like my people say I should. Even now that I know what you are, I can't ignore_ who _you are. You may be a Grimm, Vero, but you're the man who helped me when I needed him. You may have Ursai and Nevermores at your service, crawling beneath your feet, but you are still the man who visited me every time he could, bringing me stories from the war, accurately embellished to avoid me to suffer. You may have been ordered to lead an army of Grimm against my brothers and sisters, but you're still the man who trained me so I could defend me and my people by those Grimm. Others would've hated you, now that you've revealed yourself to me, but I can't help but love you more, Vero, because now that I know you've gone against your race and your nature for me, I can't help but think that your being a Grimm is just a small details of you... and since I love you, it isn't important what you are, but who you are"_

 ** _No, this isn't a Lancaster confession. A bit early for that, don't you think?_**

 ** _Just a piece of my life: yesterday I lost a bet, and so I had to write a Lancaster smut scene taking place in The Grimm of Beacon. I wrote it (exactly 2k words) and I presented it to my torturer... er, my friend. He said that my storytelling was as good as usual, and that 2k words for a cunnilingus is enough, but that a medical textbook would be more arousing._**

 ** _I don't know if to feel offended, or proud._**

 ** _Until next time,_**

 ** _Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh_**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Hey everyone! Just a little heads-up: I'll be slowing down with updates. My writing time had been reduced to a third, so... well, since it's less I might be able to write with more passion, but I might not. Still, I wanted to make this a little bit longer, my longest chapter yet with 5.7k words.**_

 _ **Enjoy the chapter!**_

The Forever Fall Forest was wonderful, he had to give it that.

That didn't mean its inhabitants were as beautiful, of course, and the Ursa proved it as it came charging in the clearing they were in, gathering Red Sap. No one did as much as flinch, and Ruby gestured Jaune to take it out since he, given his newfound allergy to the Red Sap, had been exonerated from the work and recruited as their guard. He sighed as he took Crocea Mors from his waist, switching it into bazooka mode and aiming for the head of the Grimm.

The poor Grimm never stood a chance, and five seconds later the echoes had already dissipated, just like its corpse.

The eight of them returned to their job without a word. Pyrrha, Ren, Ruby and Weiss were gathering the sap, while Yang tried to coax Blake out of her silence and into a conversation about boys, and Nora tried to coax the sap out of the jars and into her mouth. Jaune just stood as far as he could from the sap. In his Grim form, he would've gladly empties all the trees in the clearing, since Grimm were simply immune to any allergy, but his human body was more fragile. He stifled a sneeze and stepped away from Nora, who was trying to wrestle a jar of sap out of Ren's hands. Not that she wasn't strong enough: it was more that every flat stare from the boy would make her stop and step back in shame before going back to stealing sap.

They were just at the borders of the woods, so he decided to get a bit separated from the others and take a breath of fresh air. Far from the sap, he immediately felt better, and inhaled deeply. The sweet scent lured him even in his human form, but ironically enough of that stuff could kill him for allergic reaction. How he would've liked to just transform before all his friends and devour all the sap of the forest, backed up by Nora, of course. Maybe the sight of Noir Callows, Grimm Knight, eating Red Sap like a kid eating candies would've made them less hostile to his Grimm alter ego. But he doubted it.

After a few minutes, Ruby joined him on the grass, laying down beside him and looking up at the cloudless sky. She had already finished gathering sap, and had left the others guarding it from Nora -hard task- to rest a little. "Hey, Jaune?".

"Yes Ruby?", he replied easily.

"Do you think we will see the Grimm Knight today?", she asked, frowning. "I mean, my plan could work, sure, but it could also get ourself hurt, or worse killed".

"It's hard to tell beforehand", he said, pondering the question. "But if you are ready to pay that price for what you believe is the right thing to do... well, who am I to say otherwise?".

"A different person with different ideas", she countered his answer. "Do you think that going after Noir is the wrong thing to do?".

"No one will be able to tell until we do it", wisely replied Jaune. "It _does_ sound incredibly dangerous, suicidal even, but as you said we are the only ones who could do anything about it".

"But what if there is a better way to do it?", asked Ruby, turning to look at him as if he held all the answers. "What if we could've done it in a different way?".

"In hindsight, we could always have done something better", he shrugged. "But that's hindsight. Do you feel you should take more time thinking about it?".

"I don't know", she sighed. "Acting fast is important in an emergency, but acting recklessly can be even worse".

"Ruby, you're a great leader, but you worry too much. Or rather, you let that worry influence and stop you from looking on to the future", he rolled on a side to face her. "In a war, the generals have to make their decisions about not eight lives, but hundreds of thousands. I single mistake could get _millions_ of people to die".

She looked away as she thought of that.

"They need to act fast in order to keep up with the enemy, but at the same time they need not to rush into things, otherwise their recklessness might cost people their lives", he continued when she faced him again. "They have to choose the best mix of speed and efficiency. And in a smaller scale, you have too. You chose to go after the Grimm Knight because you felt like he needed to be stopped quickly, and the others agreed. Maybe our plans will just fail miserably, maybe we are just children playing at the heroes, but in any case we decided to do this".

"But what if it's not a good enough plan?", asked the crimsonette, frowning. "I'm not normally someone to worry about things too much, or to doubt myself too much but... this isn't getting a bad grade because we stayed up late to play. We could get hurt".

"Then why have you decided to do this in the first place?", he countered. "You knew what you were sticking your nose in, so why haven't you backed out immediately?".

"Because we might very well be the only ones willing to do something", she replied. "And even if it's risky, I think it's important for us to try and _do_ something".

"Then you have you own answer, Ruby", he smiled. "You think it's important, and you're ready to pay that price for it".

"But what if I could've come up with a better plan?", she continued. "And I hadn't because I was too much in a hurry?".

"My uncle Watts always says that with `what if` and with `if only`, you can go nowhere", laughed Jaune, nudging her shoulder. "His advice's good. Doubting yourself over and over again won't help. Just wait for the future to come, and face it head on".

"Your uncles offer good advice", she smiled. "Not like mine. The best advice I can get is where to buy the best alcohol".

"Well, it might be good if you intend to use it to set something on fire", he offered with a grin.

"I'll set your hair on fire if you don't stop teasing", she pouted cutely, and he laughed again.

"You would first have to pin me down before you can take me", he snickered. "And I'll let you know I'm pretty strong".

Ruby blushed and looked away. "Damn Yang", she murmured under her breath, and Jaune frowned.

"Yang? What about her?", he asked, confused. "And what has she done?".

"N-Nothing", she replied quickly. Far too quickly.

Having grown up with seven sisters, three of which younger than him, Jaune could recognize an obvious lie, and so he raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Lie. What was it?".

"I... it's just...". She turned of an even redder shade of crimson. "What you said could've been... _misinterpreted_... by Yang".

He quickly went over his own words, and then he groaned. Damn social awkwardness of his. "I didn't mean it like _that_ ", he said, frowning. "I hate being awkward".

"Me too", agreed Ruby, her cheeks still red.

There was a long silence after that, interrupted only by the occasional exasperated cry whenever Nora managed to snatch a jar of sap.

"So~", he said, trying to come up with something to break the silence with. "Are you planning to really hunt this Grimm Knight down?".

She sighed. "I think that would be the best thing to do", she admitted. "But I don't know if this is the best _way_ to do it".

"Ruby, you did your best to plan this", replied Jaune. "Besides, we might even not encounter him at all".

"But what if we do, and we're not enough prepared?", she groaned in her hands.

"What did I told you about `what if`s?", frowned the boy. "They don't get you anywhere. In my personal opinion, you did a great job. And I'll beat the hell out of anyone saying otherwise... so you'd better agree with me".

"You'd never hurt me for something so stupid", she countered with ease.

"I'd _never_ hurt you at all", he replied, looking up to the sky and thus missing Ruby's cheeks tinting anew with red. "Not unless hurting you was the only way to help you".

"How's that even possible?", asked Ruby, confused.

"Well, if we were to be captured, and to let you go I would have to hurt you... I'd go against my will and I would do it". He closed his eyes and sighed. "Because failing you would hurt me less than hurting you".

"Hurting me would hurt you?", frowned the girl, not quite getting the logic of it.

"Of course", he smiled bitterly. "I can't think of anything that could hurt me more than hurting or failing the people I hold dear".

Other girls -and boys- would've blushed at that, but Ruby just laughed happily. "Jaune, you are the most good-hearted person I've ever met", she said, smiling. "You're some kind of anti-Grimm. I've never heard anyone saying that hurting others would cause them so much pain".

Jaune chuckled weakly. An anti-Grimm, him? He'd wish. "I can't think of anything that would hurt me more", he confirmed, and he had seen and experienced many hurtful situations. With an all-evil mother and an insane father, his childhood hadn't been exactly exempt from punishments. Luckily, with his sisters, Hazel's fatherly presence, and sometimes Watts's reluctant but friendly presence, the Callows child had managed not to stray from the right path. It was incredible how both Hazel and Watts, two men who served Salem willingly, could at the same time give him advice on how to become a better person. Yeah, sure, they also had to keep up a harsh appearance sometimes, but it was thanks to them that a five-year-old Noir Callows hadn't just thrown himself at the Beowolves after stating that `his parents hated him`.

He shook his head to clear it from those thoughts, just in time to see something flying through the air. Frowning, he noticed it was a jar of red sap. Had Nora thrown it? He tried to warn Ruby, but it was already too late, and his `watch out!` cry only had her raise her head just in time to receive the jar straight in her face.

Of course, it shattered on impact, sending shards of glass and sticky sap all over her face. She yelped and closed her eyes just in time to avoid shards or sap, but she couldn't open them again or the sticky thing would've gone in her eyes. She stilled when she felt Jaune grab her arm and keep her from wiping the sap off with her sleeve.

"It won't go away if you do that", he whispered softly at her. "The others are still in the forest. I'll bring you to them... no, wait, here comes Yang in full angry sister mod-YANG, IT WASN'T ME!- Stay with them. I'm coming back soon. Just going to check out what happened".

He got up and nodded at Yang, Weiss and Ren, the last two running back to call the others while Yang tried to get the sap out of Ruby's eyes. Jaune turned and ran in the forest, or rather up the hill he was sure the jar had come from. His eyes narrowed to slits when he saw a group of four people laughing, literally doubled over in laughters, and patting each other's backs, congratulating for the well done prank. His temper flared.

He would teach those bastards a lesson.

He crept closer, taking a good look at them. His first suspect was for them to be Team CRDL, but now that he could see them he noticed they weren't the four idiots. Those were other first years he had seen around, even more arrogant and cocky than Team CRDL. The only good thing was that they didn't discriminate Faunus... they hated them just like they hated everyone else.

"Let's go see the so-called `prodigy`, now!", laughed one of them, apparently the leader, and the others stifled their laughters to walk back into the clearing, where Yang had just finished cleaning Ruby's face. Her skin was still sticky, just like her hair, and she would need both a shower and a change of clothes as soon as they got back, but the sap hadn't gone in her eyes.

Team DRGN sauntered towards them with mock worry, asking what had happened. He saw Yang's eyes flashing red, but incredibly Nora put a hand on her shoulder. "No, Yang, we can't break their legs", she said sadly. "It would get us all in trouble".

"You were the ones who threw that jar, weren't you?", asked Ren, his arms crossed before him. Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake had joined back in the fray, glaring at the four students. "Jars full of sap don't just fall from the sky, you know?".

Ruby stood up and marched over to the team's leader. "That", she said, poking him in the chest in a very Weiss-like fashion. "Was rude, and uncalled for".

"It was _very_ called for", he shot back, pushing her away from him. "Also, you don't have proof, little loli".

It took Ren, Weiss, Pyrrha and Blake to stop Yang and Nora from obliterating the asshole, but unfortunately for him nobody knew Jaune was there too. Ruby had told them Jaune was going to find out where the jar came from, but nobody had seen him yet. He smirked as he got an idea. It would be dangerous, but it would probably give Ruby a little more faith in her plans, and scare Team DRGN into pissing their pants.

The thought made him smirk, and he quickly transformed, ready to walk in the clearing.

"And what would the reason be?", asked Ruby, glaring at him. "I've barely _seen_ the four of you in those days. What did I do to earn that jar?".

"Apart from being Ozpin's own favourite pet student? Other than being the so-called `prodigy`?", snickered the boy, clearly enjoying the exchange. "Apart from having been accepted into Beacon two years prior almost as if you were _special_ , and having been made team leader even though you are clearly a child that should be spanked for bad-behaving by your daddy?". He grinned as her expression hardened with every of his words. "Other than having gotten lucky and having ended up leading a team with _Weiss Schnee_ and _Pyrrha Nikos?_ Then, other than that, you're just a little bitch".

And then he shoved Ruby hard, making her fall on her rear, yelping in surprise and slight pain.

Yang immediately activated Ember Celica, ready to smash a couple of asses through the sky and into the Sun. Ren drew his StormFlowers, training them a two of the four students' heads, his normally deadpan expression now turned into a scowl. Pyrrha was ready to fight -and win-, her shield on her left arm and her sword at ready in the other. Nora had somehow taken out her hammer in the blink of an eye, and for once she wasn't grinning at the prospect of a fight. Weiss had Myrtenaster out and trained on Team DRGN, who were blissfully unaware of all the pain they were about to receive. Even Blake had lost her usual careless attitude, and now her Gambol Shroud was in her hand, eager to be used on some arrogant pricks.

An inhuman screech stopped them all.

Ren actually dropped his weapons, going impossibly pale as he looked around feverishly. Nora took a few steps in his direction, her expression going from stormy to scared in the span of a second. The others just tensed up, ready for whatever nightmare they were about to face, especially if it had managed to turn the usually stoic Ren and the usually fearless Nora into two frightened teenagers almost crouching to the ground. Then a black blur shot out of the trees with a second furious scream and landed right between the two `armies`, separating Team DRGN and Ruby from Team WN and Team VYBL. Yang shouted at Ruby to run, but her sister's words stopped them all.

"I told you he was real!", she shouted back, although she was crawling backward, trying to get away from the Grimm Knight as fast as she could. "Just don't piss him off!".

"Don't worry about that", growled Noir Callows, unfolding his weapons into their katars mode. Using the Knucklelavee's scream had been satisfying beyond definition, but his anger hadn't faded one bit. "I'm _already_ pissed off".

Team DRGN was, as opposite to Team CRDL, not a team of cowards, instead being a team of arrogant pricks who thought to be invincible. They had of course been shocked by his arrival, but they quickly regained their bearings, and attacked him one after the other, hoping for an opening. He mentally snorted at their horrible teamwork. Even CRDL could do better.

He dodged Draak Draíocht's broadsword low swing and landed an axe kick straight into the boy's face, making him stumble backward and halt another student dead in his tracks. The only female of the team, Wen Gyre, then rushed in, her clawed gauntlets hissing through the air as they went for him... and only found air. He grinned as he smashed the back of her head with a katar, sending her flying to his friends. The last one, Nathan Garnet, charged in with his halberd, trying to impale him outright, but he was utterly shocked when Noir grabbed the halberd and planted in into the ground, using it as a pole to kick the boy straight in the face. Meanwhile the second one, Rogue Wyrm, had shook himself from seeing their leader being kicked off so easily and leapt for Noir brandishing his two axes, only to be met with firm resistance when his axes clashed against Noir's katars. Before he could do anything, Noir smirked, and fired from the barrels under the blades of his weapons, very similar to the ones his father used. Tilting his head back to avoid being hit, Rogue then didn't see Noir's attack coming, and ended up receiving a headbang straight on his nose, stumbling backward just enough for Noir to kick him away.

With a decision based only on his common sense, he decided to put some distance between him and his friends. He could without doubt take on any of them and win... not so much when taking on a team and a half. Team DRGN was clearly going to help, and even though their teamwork was uglier than a spider, they were still four more people. He decided to take them out quickly and... well, not silently.

With a brief dash and a flip, he found himself straight in front of Nathan's no-more-grinning face. The boy just had time to widen his eyes before a cartwheel kick hit him with the force of a crashing battleship, sending him flying through a tree. As the others just gaped in shock, he flipped Draak on his back before stomping down hard on his face, cracking the ground all around. Since Wen had already been hit hard enough, he just decided to go on with his plan and stepped away, towards Ruby. Yang called out to her, telling her to move, but there was little she could do against a Grimm Hybrid like Noir Callows.

Rogue Wyrm tried to stop him, but he just followed Uncle Hazel's advice: he punched whatever was blocking his path into submission, and so he blocked Rogue's double axe swing before driving a Grimm-level-strength kick straight between his legs, literally lifting him up in the air and then flinging him away with another kick. In just those two attacks, the boy's Aura shattered and he landed in an unconscious heap on the ground. All the other boys whimpered, and even the girls cringed. That was a hurtful spot to be hit for anyone.

Wen Gyre and Draak Draíocht seemed to have had enough, and they charged in unison, only to get knocked out with three kicks each. There were no more of Team DRGN, so he just dashed over to Ruby and lifted her up, keeping a katar right under her throat. Turning around, he saw that literally all his friends were aiming at him with their weapons. He narrowed his eyes right before Pyrrha shot him straight in the forehead, a technically lethal spot for a Grimm. He just cringed as his head shot back, but held on.

Then he scowled.

"He has Aura", murmured Weiss, almost letting her weapon fall from her slack hands. "How can he... he's a Grimm!".

"And so?", asked Noir, still glaring at them, one hand kept tight around Ruby's waist to keep her from running and the other keeping the katar under her throat. "Is there a law against me having an Aura?".

"B-But...", stammered Pyrrha. "Aura is the projection of our _souls!_ Grimm don't _have_ souls!".

"And yet I have Aura", he responded with a raised eyebrow. "Where does this leave us?".

"We are fighting beings with Aura?", whispered Ruby, her eyes wide and watery. He could feel the revelation doing a number on her emotions. "Grimm have souls, and we're killing them?".

"Normal Grimm don't have souls", he hurried to say, and the sense of dread coming from Ruby quieted a bit. He normally would've loved to have a source of negativity so near him, and so intense, but for some reason this time, the thought of having caused that dread in Ruby after she had organized all that plan -to capture him, yes, but it was good at heart- just because she thought it was what was right... no, feeling the dread washing over Ruby had been a sickening feeling, one he wasn't keen on feeling anytime soon. Maybe his human side had somehow polluted into his Grimm side? "Most Grimm are just mindless beasts".

"Most?", whimpered the crimsonette, unnaturally still in his arms. He wanted to growl at the situation. Normally, being hugged by a friend should've been calming. Evidently, being hugged by a Grimm wasn't.

"I can't deny to be a Grimm, but as you can see I do have Aura", he nodded, looking at Ruby. "Although it wouldn't be exact to call me a normal Grimm".

"How can you have a soul?", shouted Weiss, shocked.

"How can you?", he shot back, and tightened his grip on Ruby when she squirmed to escape. "And you, stay still. There is no need for you to get hurt, if you don't cause it".

"How can we have a soul? What kind of question is that?", growled Yang, her eyes burning a fiery red. "We're _humans!_ You're _Grimm!_ That's why!".

"Then your view of the world is _extremely_ biased", lightly commented Noir, forcing Weiss and Pyrrha to stop Yang from attacking and getting her ass handed to her. "You can't just call me soulless and evil just because most of my race is".

"Really?", asked Blake, raising an eyebrow, as soon as she understood Noir wasn't there to kill them all and feast on the remains. "Excuse me if I don't believe you".

"Blake!", hissed Yang, furious. "He has Ruby!".

"No, no, let her speak", countered the Grimm boy. "I'm eager to hear her point of view. As for me having Ruby... yes, I believe she _is_ quite at my mercy, but I wouldn't fear for her life. I have no intention of killing her just for having quite literally a delicious scent".

Ruby's eyes went wide at that, and everyone else seemed shocked. Only Ren somehow maintained his calm and facepalmed. "Of course! Grimm are attracted by the sweetness of the sap, and Ruby's gotten it all over her face!".

And just like that, Team VYBL + WN's expressions had turned from shocked to terrified for the girl. Noir just sighed exasperated. "I have better control than Beowolves or Ursai, or even Nevermores and Death Stalkers", he said, although he was enjoying the scent of the sap. It was even better since he could also feel Ruby's natural scent of roses and strawberries, both getting along quite well with the sap. He felt like someone should have really invented a dessert made of roses, strawberries and red sap... although he couldn't eat it in his human form without dying of anaphylactic shock. How irksome. "I'm not gonna take a bite out of her".

"Yet you're keeping your nose buried in her hair", noted Yang with narrowed eyes.

His embarrassed blush was hidden by Ruby's hair, and he shrugged. "I said _better_ control, not _total_ control", he announced, hoping not to sound as meek as he perceived it. "Besides, she really smells good. You should try it too".

Ruby had gone from terrified to atomic red at the words, and at the sensation of Noir inhaling her scent. Nobody had complimented her on her _scent_ before... well, actually, nobody outside family had ever complimented _anything_ about her before. Her scary uncle and scary sister and scary father had kept everyone away. Yang instead approved of boys flirting with her, even if she had almost never given anyone a chance. It was a new thing, and welcome, to be finally appreciated but... it was coming from a _Grimm!_ Weren't they supposed to be mindless slaughterers of innocents? And if so, then _why_ hadn't Noir done something terrible to her? Like, breaking Crescent Rose, or hurting her, or even _killing_ her.

Yang was not pleased. "If you do anything to her...", she threatened, but Noir scoffed.

"I'm not going to rape her. That's something only you humans do", he retorted, irritated but truthfully. "As for you doing something... it's highly improbably. You would barely be able to land a hit on me before getting knocked out".

She fumed in anger, but she did let go of the argument. He was telling the truth. Blake cut in again, returning to their previous topic. "I said I don't believe you", she stated firmly. "All Grimm are evil".

"The same is said for Faunus, and yet I don't think you'd appreciate _that_ kind of racism", he replied lightly, before scowling, his katar slightly grazing Ruby's throat and his grip on her tightening just enough to make her yelp at the added pressure. "Not even in a thousand years I will be able to understand _why_ humans hate each other so fiercely. And then you call _us_ monsters?".

"Humans and Faunus are far more similar than humans and Grimm", hissed Weiss. "Grimm just kill mercilessly everyone, no matter who they are".

"Your prisons are full of criminals and murderers, and you still deny that humanity is just as bloodthirsty as normal Grimm?", he snickered. "And your idiotic racism... why do you do it? If even the lowliest Grimm does not differentiate between a so-called human and a so-called Faunus, why should _you_ do it? Last time I checked, humans weren't on the list of mindless creatures".

This seemed to make them uncomfortable for him to begin to step back, his hand snaking up from Ruby's waist to cover her mouth, avoiding her to alert the others. "You want to know who the true monsters are?", he said, copying one of Tyrian's favourite lines. The madman hadn't of course come up with them himself, but he had liked the sound of the. "In the looking glass, there'll be monsters".

Only Tyrian could be happy to be defined a monster.

His last words bought him just that half a second he needed to dash into the forest, dragging a kicking Ruby with him, uncaring of the shouts and screams behind him. With his speed, the only one who could've reached him would've been Ruby, but he had gotten her trapped, so he was safe. Also, along the way he sent a couple of Ursai to slow them down. The poor Grimm were slaughtered mercilessly.

In the end, they had lost him.

He stopped, panting slightly. Looking down at Ruby, he could see she was still trying to break free. He removed his hand and she stepped back, immediately alert, but his right wing stopped her before she could bolt away. Temporarily ignoring her, he looked down at his hand, now slightly sticky with sap. Without thinking, he brought it up to his mouth and licked it clean, humming softly at the sweet taste of the sap. He glanced up only to find Ruby staring at him with wide eyes and crimson cheeks. Drying his hand on his shirt, he then stared back at her, curious about her next move.

"Are you going to kill me?", she asked softly, and she looked even smaller than usual.

"Do you want me to?", he replied without missing a beat, inching closer as she shook her head. He needed to make her think he was the villain without straight out saying it, so to save himself a way out in case he was found out. Why was he doing that? It was crazy! Oh... right, he was doing this to make Ruby happy. Being a friend was really taxing sometimes. "Then, what do you want me to do?".

"L-Let me go", she stammered, shrinking back when he blinked and threw his head back to laugh.

"Fair enough", he said after his mirth had passed. "But I want something in exchange". _'Yeah, go for it. Ask her to keep away from your plans... no, wait, ask her not to tell anyone of your presence... Yeah, this one's perf...'_.

Any semblance of thought was obliterated when he felt two small, soft lips pressing against his. His eyes shot open, looking straight at Ruby. She had her own eyes closed, and she seemed to be forcing herself to do it. Had she...? She had misinterpreted him! He hadn't meant _that_ , but now that he thought of it, the position they were in -she still trapped by his wing, although no more held by his right arm- and Ruby's hormones had made her think he meant a kiss. No... with horror, he realized that it had been _his own_ hormones who had pushed him to kiss her.

...he had absolutely zero complaints.

Instead, he moaned in the kiss, something he would then deny if asked and would pulverize the Ursa that snickered at him later that day, and he wrapped his right arm back around her waist, drawing her closer. In his mouth, the lingering taste of the sap was washed away from a new taste as he managed to make her part her lips, Ruby's own taste. Idly, he compared the two tastes.

Ruby's flavour and scent won in a heartbeat.

His left arm came up to cup her cheek, pulling her ever-so-slightly closer, and finally her expression relaxed. He guessed she had just temporarily forgotten she was making out with a Grimm. He vaguely worried about her recognizing his own taste from the kiss he'd given her in his human form, but he quickly dismissed the thought. In his Grimm form, he knew he tasted different. Instead, he focused on Ruby's flavour as his tongue took the initiative and slowly touched hers, making her shudder. _That_ sent an electric shiver down his throat, not the dread she had been feeling back in the clearing. That felt a billion times better.

She tasted sweet, and that surely fit her. Just like in her scent, she had a natural taste of rose petals and strawberries, and a light aftertaste of chocolate. He idly noted to put chocolate cookies at the top of his list of favourite foods. She was a bit inexperienced, but she surely was good at kissing. Natural talent, he guessed. Lucky her. He had been very clumsy initially... but so had all his sisters been, too. Apparently, it was in the family. Kissing Ruby suddenly disintegrated any previous record of his favourite activity as she finally began to kiss him back, shyly and hesitantly, and he couldn't help but inwardly laugh in victory. That was worth getting himself killed by Yang.

Far too soon for him, he had to pull away, leaving a crimson Ruby with her eyes still closed. She opened them slowly, but she gasped in surprise when she saw him, her eyes going impossibly wide. His throat closed up. He had just forced himself on Ruby. On his best friend. On his first friend at Beacon. Maybe Weiss was right. Maybe Yang was right. Maybe Blake was right.

Maybe he _was_ a monster.

"I-I...", he stammered, stepping back. Still in shock, Ruby just stood there, eyes wide and trembling. _'What have I done?'_ , he asked himself. "I-I...".

She finally exited her shock, gingerly stepping forward, probably to ask him why. He could already imagine the scene. _'What have I done?'_. A crying Ruby, begging him to tell her why did he have to do _that_ to her of all things. His heart constricted, and it finally broke when his mental image of Ruby raised her head, her bright silver eyes filled with tears. He couldn't take it any more. _'What have I done?'_.

"I-I'm so s-sorry", he croaked out, feeling the tears blurring his vision. Ruby seemed surprised by this. Of course she was. Why would someone who had just forced himself on her begin to cry? He shut his eyes and a sob escaped him. The kiss had been so warm... a warmth he had been seeking ever since he had learned how little his parents cared about him. His sisters loved him, yes, but there had always been a cold, empty hole in his heart that radiated its coldness all around, freezing him inside. Both kisses with Ruby had slightly melted that ice, but now... _'What have I done?'_... now that ice was stronger than ever. Was he really a monster? Not wanting to find out, not wanting to face the consequences of his own actions, he turned and ran, his entire frame shaking in desperate sobs. As soon as the small figure in red disappeared from sight, he threw his head back, crying out all his anguish in one terrifying scream.

 **What have I done?!**

 _ **How wrong you are, Noir. I'm the monster. I've been angry all day and in a terrible mood, so I wanted to write something evil.  
**_

 _ **So... how will Jaune keep going with knowing how he forced himself on Ruby? Will this be the end of Lancaster? Honestly, I don't know.**_

 _ **By the way, the small snippet of conversation regarding Noir being evil just for being a Grimm... it comes from a review of dw77, who said I could use it, so I'm mentioning him here in the footnote.**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh.**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Okay, first thing: sorry for this very short chapter. It's just 2.5k words. I'm really sorry and I will try never to do this again, but today I was feeling happy so I didn't want to risk waiting another day and then write while angry. As you can guess, I'm an emotional writer, so when my mood influences my story. Besides, it does have kind of a cliffhanger. Never wrote one before except in Dragons and Knights... chapter 8, I think.**_

 _ **Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **PS: I changed the team of the sap "prank" in the Forever Fall Forest because I've noticed how some people do not like canon characters get too evil. I've had my fair experience with bullies and I've heard hideous stories, but since I do not want to irritate you by making canon characters act OOC by making them basically deserving to be beaten down by Team RWAN+VYBL (and one of them in Grimm form). So I decided to use a team of OCs. And they won't be the only ones. Power often does not come with kindness.**_

Jaune Arc felt terrible.

To say it was one of the worst days of his life would've been right. The Bullhead ride back to Beacon hadn't been awkward: it had been heartbreaking. Not because it was explicitly _sad_ , but because of the memories of what he'd done. He had no regrets in beating Team DRGN into unconsciousness. When Goodwitch had asked about them, Yang had been quick to reply a simple `Grimm`. It wasn't a complete lie, after all. No, what he was devastated about was what he had done later.

He had serious reasons to hate himself at the moment. To think that he had showed up and captured Ruby only to `play along` with their plans to search for him... A dangerous game, sure, but one that would've made them feel important. Especially so since they _knew_ there was a Grimm Knight in the forest. It had all been a game. Walk in, taunt them a little, call in some Grimm in case things got nasty and then disappear. When had his plan gone so horribly wrong?

It had probably been when he had kissed Ruby, he reasoned. Oum, even if it had been something just slightly less wicked than rape, he could still tell it had been wonderful. Not the contact itself, not even her taste, even if Dust she tasted good. No, it had just been the gesture. He and his sisters had `practised` with kissing for another reason, apart from simple practice: it had been because it gave them a warm feeling of being cared for, something they sorely lacked from both parents. But after what he'd done, he didn't know if he could feel warmth ever again. He just wanted to run, turn into a Grimm and curl up in a ball, waiting for everything to fade. That was his usual reaction to bad things. That was the usual reaction of all the Callows children. With the Queen of the Grimm as mother and a psychopathic murderer as father, it wasn't so hard to believe.

The others noticed his pain, but probably they thought it was due to him not being there when Ruby was taken, given the short `It wasn't your fault` and `You couldn't have known about it` he received from them. He managed to keep his distance from Ruby, somehow, but time and again he would spot her red cape from among the others and his heart would tighten again. It was true what he had said to her: the most hurtful thing he could think of was the ones he cared about being hurt. Having lived with the parents he had, he had had a lack of love that he had turned into love for others. He didn't want his friends to feel as unloved as he had felt. Ruby didn't speak about what had happened, and after a while Yang stopped speaking. They were already back at their dorms when it happened.

Ruby took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "There is something I need to tell you", she said suddenly. "About what happened before I got back with you".

"Did he hurt?", immediately asked Yang, concerned beyond definition. "Are you okay?".

"He didn't hurt me", she replied quietly. " _I_ hurt _him_ ".

Everyone went silent at that. Jaune removed his gaze from the ground and dared a look at Ruby. She really seemed to mean that. And that wasn't possible. He was hurt, yes, but it had been _him_ the one who hurt her, not the other way around. He was hurt because he had forced himself on her, he had kissed her without her consent. In his mind, that was nothing short of rape, even though many would've disagreed. "W-What do you mean?", asked Yang, clearly not expecting her little sister to be able to even land a hit of a Grimm Knight. Now she believed her about the Grimm, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel doubtful about Ruby actually hurting one. Team DRGN hadn't even been able to land a hit: what chances had the little girl? Too little to be possible. "H-How?".

"I... When he captured me, I asked him if he was going to kill me", she said, her cheeks tinted in embarrassment. "I was scared and I just kinda blurted it out. He laughed and said he wasn't going to do it unless I asked him to. And then he asked me what I wanted him to do".

"And you told him to drop dead?", growled Yang, angry. "He's lucky he had you as hostage, otherwise...".

"Otherwise he would've beaten you without even thinking about it!", Ruby snapped, and everyone flinched. It wasn't like her. "He's too strong for you! He's too strong for any of us! He wasn't even worried about letting me go!".

"What do you mean by that?", asked Blake, sharp and attentive.

"I... I asked him to let me go, obviously", she recalled in a small voice. "And he said it was okay... as long as he got something as payment".

"What did he want?", asked Yang. "Blood? Your weapon? The promise not to interfere any more?".

"Probably one of those things... but I didn't let him say anything", replied Ruby, and now her cheeks where red for something different than embarrass. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I just did what I thought he would've asked me... although from his reaction, I'd say he hadn't meant that".

"What, Ruby?", Weiss pressed on, and Ruby shifted uncomfortably. "What did you do to hurt him?".

"I k-kissed him".

The reactions were varied. Yang literally burst into flames, screaming enraged. Jaune couldn't bear to look in anyone's eyes in his shame. Ren, Nora, Pyrrha and Blake were frozen in disbelief and shock. Weiss's mouth was hanging open, all pretences of decor forgotten at the young girl's statement. Ruby cringed as Yang shouted a particularly rude curse, and tried to calm her down. "I-It was m-my fault", she said, cringing again when the blonde didn't seem to listen. "A-And he didn't w-want it... h-he began to c-cry...".

And just like that, everyone was shocked into listening.

"He did what?", asked Yang, heavily falling back on the floor.

"I don't know!", cried Ruby, now panicking under everyone's but Jaune's gaze. "When he pulled back, he began to cry and then run off".

"The scream...", murmured Ren, and then flinched when everyone's attention was turned on him. "Before Ruby came back, we all heard a second scream, but it didn't sound like the first...".

"It was pained", interrupted Blake, whose hearing was much sharper than anyone else's in the room. "I didn't know why, but it sounded... agonizing".

"Maybe kissing a girl as pure as Ruby hurt him", growled Yang, her eyes of a fierce red. "He's just a Grimm, after all. He's a monster without morals nor mercy".

Nobody replied.

#####

Ruby, though, had a different opinion.

Noir Callows wasn't a monster without morals nor mercy. He was a Grimm, sure, but he wasn't mindless, nor bloodthirsty, nor cruel. Maybe he was evil, maybe he was the evillest of all beings on Remnant, but in just the two occasions she had met him he had shown more humanity than many men and women. He had pointed out how humans held prejudices against Faunus, and he actually had a point in saying that if humans discriminated and the Grimm didn't, maybe humans weren't as evolved and intelligent as they thought.

Even when he had kept her hostage, _she_ had been the one who had kissed him against his will. She didn't exactly know _why_ had that hurt him so much, but it had. She couldn't prevent a blush reaching her face. She felt so stupid now. All human-like monsters in movies and books always asked for a kiss from the main character when they captured her. It was how they worked. But apparently Noir hadn't wanted that.

Or maybe he had. She hadn't exactly let him speak his mind before kissing him.

At that, she blushed. She had just gone and kissed a Grimm Knight just because in movies and books it was what they usually asked from the main character. Although in a book she had `borrowed` from Yang once, they had asked for much more... and had gotten it too, as opposite to her own books, where the protagonist's allies always dashed in in the nick of time to save her if she needed to be saved, or to give her back her sword so she could fight her way to a happy ending.

As Team VYBL left Team RWAN alone in their dorm, in her little mind began worming its way an idea. It was something she hadn't considered before. Something that clashed with Yang's idea in a way that was impossible to just ignore. Noir Callows crushed Team DRGN, but they were the ones to attack first. He did not hurt anyone else. Even back in the Emerald Forest, he had actually stopped the Death Stalker from attacking them. And he had talked to them, even if a bit harshly in Forever Fall, like a person.

Was he not a monster?

The mere idea of it was absurd. He was a Grimm. Grimm killed people. They killed men, women and children without a care in the world. Huntsmen's first duty was to avoid those deaths to happen. The Grimm had torn beloved ones from their families. They had killed many many innocents. The Grimm were evil. All of them.

 _'The your view of the world is_ extremely _biased'_.

Ruby cringed and got up, announcing she needed some time alone. Pyrrha and Weiss gave her an understanding look, while Jaune didn't meet her eyes. He still felt guilty for not being there to help, she supposed, and she frowned. It hadn't been his fault. She would need to talk to him later. But at the moment, she needed some time for herself.

Half an hour later, she was laying on a rooftop, looking up at the stars. Between the late return to Beacon, the long awkward silence that had reigned in their dorm before and after her revelation and the time it had taken her to find that place, the day had already died away, and the shattered moon shined in the sky.

She sighed. Why the world was so difficult to understand? Why couldn't there be black and white, bad and good? Why did it had to be so confusing? Noir Callows was a Grimm, was a _dangerous_ Grimm... but he was a person. After all, her Uncle Qrow was a monster with his scythe, one of the best Huntsman known in Remnant... although he tended to be always drunk. Why couldn't Noir be dangerous and a person at the same time?

It should've felt wrong, to doubt a Grimm's evilness. But it didn't. It felt like she should've done that more often. She should've thought and considered people more, prejudices and first impressions be damned. Noir wasn't a monster, not in the way normal Grimm were. He was strong and dangerous, sure, but he was actually disgusted by the hatred humans had for Faunus. Shouldn't he have been happy for the extra negativity in the world? And she hadn't missed his flinch when she had feared the Grimm she had been killing had souls. Normal Grimm would've bathed in it, but he had actually seemed uncomfortable.

Just more mysteries.

It wasn't fair. She was just a girl trying to become a heroine. She wanted to make the world more similar to a fairy tale, with a happy ending. She wanted a happy ending herself. And she surely wouldn't consider killing a Grimm with a soul a happy ending. Not unless it was completely necessary. Why did the world had to be so confusing?

Glaring at the stars above her, she sighed.

Noir Callows was a mystery. Was he evil? Was he not? She felt the beginning of a headache coming. It was against the nature of the Grimm to be _good_. But what if the legend of the Grimm and the Maiden was true? What if Grimm Knights were just people like everyone else? She felt like she shouldn't have been doubting what were basically fundamental rules of Nature. Grimm were evil. They were darkness incarnate. They had to be killed, or they would kill people. They had to be wiped off Remnant.

"Does this make us humans any better than the Grimm?", she wondered softly, her voice lost in the dark night's air. It was getting cold, but she wanted to do one last thing before going back inside. Standing up, she took a deep breath. It shouldn't have mattered. He wasn't even gonna hear her. It shouldn't have mattered, but it did.

"I'm sorry for hurting you. It was my fault. I panicked and acted against your will", she said, her voice fractionally louder, but still soft and rustling like the wind. "I do not know what or who you are, but it doesn't matter. I'm sorry, even if you are a Grimm and you are mindlessly evil... because I'm not".

Now feeling better and lighter, she sighed and headed back inside, but a hiss through the air halted her. Something landed behind her with barely a sound, but what she heard was the sound of a blade embedding into stone. She turned, her heart hammering in her throat, and saw no one.

Instead, firmly stuck in the roof, there was a single black feather.

She frowned as she got nearer, picking it up and observing it carefully. It was a plain black feather, too large to be from a normal bird -plus there was the little details it was _embedded into the concrete_ \- and too small to be from an adult Nevermore. The juveniles one wouldn't be able to even approach Beacon, and even the adults would've probably mowed down without many problems. Since it had obviously been thrown, she looked around. Maybe some students playing pranks on her by making her believe there was a Nevermore nearby? She wasn't that foolish. As her gaze swept past a building, she froze.

There was something on that building.

The angle of the throw was right, and the dark figure seemed to have wings, but it wasn't a Nevermore. Its skin was ghostly white, far too white to be healthy or even dead. It was humanoid, with black clothes that looked very much like an armour and wild black hair falling all over its face and forehead. A pair of twin blades ran on the sides of its arms, as dark as the night and with silver rims. She shivered when their eyes met, silver into red.

Slowly, as if not to scare her away, the Grimm Knight nodded at her in some sort of bow.

She felt her heartbeat increase madly as he got up just as slowly, terrified that he would decide to attack her, but instead he just turned and ran, disappearing from the sight as he dived and glided behind a building. She sighed in relief before realizing what that meant.

 _'The Grimm Knight can enter Beacon'_.

 _ **Oh, yeah.**_

 _ **With Watts as an uncle, not even Beacon's security can catch him. Besides, if Cinder had a scroll that infected the communication net to a world-wide level AND the supposedly-hyper-protected computers of the military, then I guess Jaune can have his uncle hack his way into Beacon's security and shut down some cameras, or maybe even have a scroll himself to shut them down.**_

 _ **Anyway, now Ruby knows that not even Beacon is safe. What will she do?**_

 _ **Oh, remember I told you about the bet I lost a few days ago? That same friend (who is actually a relative, but they don't want me to mention them too directly) asked me for another smut, saying that I needed to improve or I would not be ready for the real world, because the real world is too rude for my current level of politeness. I told him them they could write that smut on paper and then shove said paper you all know where. They didn't comment on my politeness any more.**_

 _ **Until next time,**_

 _ **Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hey everyone! It's been a while, and it will probably be another while before next chapter is up! For the next three weeks, we will be housing a guest, and that means my twin brother will move in with me in my room. Terrible news, for me.**_

 _ **Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**_

Jaune knew his plan had worked terribly.

He hadn't needed a thunderstruck Ruby entering their dorm in a trance to know it. He hadn't needed her shocked silence when he had asked her what was wrong. He hadn't needed her to go to sleep so early, which was worrying since Ruby _never_ went to sleep so early. He absolutely hadn't needed her to stammer incoherent words in her sleep. And he hadn't needed her to wake up in the middle of the night, change into her daywear and head out of the room.

Left with nothing else to do, he decided to follow her as silently as he could manage.

The girl went straight to the lockers' room, where she retrieved Crescent Rose. Understandable. She had just gotten the certainty that a powerful Grimm could enter the school. Of course she would take her weapon with her. But where was she going? What had he been thinking? Probably he had just been too happy he hadn't actually forced himself on her.

And he had scared her. He had _terrified_ her.

He had actually terrified himself, too. He had run away because he was sure she would've started shouting and alerting everyone, and he alone couldn't take on the entire school. He had run all the way back to the dorm, expecting to hear the alarm at any second. Instead, nothing had been heard, and Ruby had returned the dorm in shock.

But why was she now silently stalking in the corridors of Beacon, weapon deployed and terror written all over her face? He didn't know, but he needed to find out. She obviously wasn't stupid enough to think she could take his Grimm alter-ego on all on her own, so why hadn't she called everyone else?

He shook his head to clear it and transformed. With Watts's program to take care of the cameras, it was better for him to wear darker clothes in the night. And since Ruby wasn't a Faunus, she wouldn't be able to spot him if he was in his Grimm form.

Slowly, she reached the rooftop she had been on when he had revealed himself. Her nervous stance reminded him of Cardin immediately after he had proven the bully he _could_ wipe the floor, walls and ceiling with him. Literally. Although the expression of Goodwitch's face when he had explained his previous fake match hadn't been pretty. She had looked ready to blast him back into the Grimmlands with her telekinetic Semblance.

Ruby, instead, now looked lost.

Gripping Crescent Rose tightly, she looked around, but she clearly didn't have much of an idea of what to do. Instead, she just stood watch, standing up in the middle of the rooftop. Without being seen, he managed to sneak out a window and on the roof above the one on which Ruby was standing.

And then he realized she had been searching for him – the Grimm Knight him.

He looked around before sighing. He had messed up big time, and now he would have to pay for it. And pay dearly. He shook his head and looked around a second time. There was no one in sight, but that did _not_ mean there was no one in earshot. A simple scream from Ruby could cause mayhem... especially because he _really_ did _not_ want to anger Yang, even if he could kick her ass with relative ease. He would have to improvise.

When he was sure she was looking away, he moved to stand upright on the roof he was on, waiting for her to turn back and spot him. He cringed as she continued to stare at the building on the other side, knowing she was taking just a few seconds but feeling every second pass as slow as an hour. Finally, after what seemed a thousand years but in reality was no more than a handful of seconds, Ruby Rose turned and saw him.

With a gasp, she trained her scythe on him and fired.

Letting his Aura block the shot was kid's play, but preventing her from waking up the whole school with her shots was something else entirely. Left with no other options, he bent his legs and propelled himself forward, miraculously crossing the distance within a second and managing to smother her scream with a hand. With the other, he flicked Crescent Rose away, accidentally putting too much force in the hit and sending it over the edge of the roof.

Wide, panicked silver eyes looked up, meeting his own crimson red ones and flinching. Not wanting anyone to just peek from a window and see them, he pulled her closer and used his fallen-angel-like black wings to shield them from curious gazes, the dark feathers blending with the dark starlit night.

"I'm not here to harm you", he said quickly, but by the look on Ruby's face, it was evident she didn't believe him. Wrecking his mind to come up with a reasonable reason for him to be at Beacon, he stumbled into the real core of the problem.

 _'Do I keep pretending I'm evil, or do I try to play the `nice Grimm`?'_.

That was the question of the millennium. He really wanted to just be himself, and being himself at the moment would've been dragging Ruby into the Emerald Forest, far out of earshot, and explaining her everything. But a part of him was doubtful. Humans hated Grimm even more than Grimm hated humans. It was their nature to kill humans. Humans didn't have that excuse. They killed because they _wanted_ to kill. And often it wasn't in self-defence.

With a sigh, he realized that playing nice wouldn't do. So, he just went with what Uncle Watts had taught him, one of the few things Uncle Hazel had agreed with Watts on the matter.

He'd have to improvise.

"There is no need for you to be harmed", he continued, trying to get his point across. " _If_ you stay out of my way".

Now Ruby's eyes were focused, and less afraid.

 _'In for a lien, in for ten'_ , he mentally sighed. "The attention you brought on my... actions... with those four imbeciles in the forest was highly unappreciated", he growled, a plan slowly forming in his mind. He had gone that far just to let Ruby free to `chase` him and try to hunt him down. Adding Team VYBL to the group of hunters wasn't in his plan, but he could still handle it. Besides, Ren's and Blake's calm reasoning would help cool down Ruby, Yang and Nora. He _could_ just continue with the act, as long as he didn't kill anyone. And besides, it was kinda fun. "I do not wish to add any more attention by having to kill you and your friends. So stay out of my way".

"Mmpf mmhf mmphf mmfph", she replied, frowning.

"What?", he asked, removing his hand just enough for her to speak. In case she attempted a scream, he would just smother her again.

"I won't let evil lurk in the shadow under my watch", she repeated, glaring at him. Idly, he noted how her silver eyes seemed to be shining even without the direct light of the Moon.

"I know how you humans act, and I know you won't let this slide so easily", he scowled, and she flinched. Wrecking his mind to come up with a good retort. "But remember that I'm much stronger than you are. My little run-in with your friends has been amusing, but next time you might not come out unscathed".

"You're evil and we _will_ fight you!", she retorted angrily, glaring at him, silver into red.

"You too, huh? I thought I already made more than clear how your labels do not apply to me", he snorted, and for a second it felt to him like a normal banter between friends. Then she flinched and the second shattered. "Tell me, what would you do if I tell you I'm planning to hijack a train full of Dust from the Schnee Dust Company?".

She stiffened. "I...".

"You would try to have an excuse to gather your little friends and try to stop me", he finished in her stead. "And you'd probably put you and your friends in grave danger".

"We...".

"You would still do it if it's to stop me", he nodded, and she closed her mouth. "Don't worry, I haven't planned to hijack anything in the near future".

"Why should I believe you?".

"Because you have no other choice but to believe me", he shrugged truthfully. He still had no idea of where to bring that, but for the time being he seemed to be doing a great work at stalling. "And besides, what would I do with a bunch of Dust crystals? A geode?".

There was a moment of silence before Ruby looked up to him and frowned. "Was that sarcasm?", she asked, honestly shocked.

"Yes, and this is mockery", he snickered, crossing his arms in front of him, but keeping his wings around the both of them to keep her from running, and to shield them from view. "How bright of you".

"Grimm can't be sarcastic, and surely not like you", she shook her head. "So, _what_ are you?".

"When I say I'm a Grimm, it's true. But as I said before I'm not a normal Grimm", he replied, his eyes turning pensive. "Normal Grimm are mindless beasts because they lack of a soul. Of a beacon of light, be it White or Black, to guide them. I, on the other hand, have a soul. I have Aura. So what exactly differentiate me from you humans?".

"B-But you're a Grimm...", she protested weakly.

And just like that, he had an idea. "I have an offer for you", he stated plainly, even though his mind was going in overdrive. "You know so little about me. About my kind. I have business to do here. I don't know how you caught me in the Forever Fall Forest, but you did. If you manage to catch me again, you will get more answers".

"And why would you offer that?", asked Ruby, suspicious. And she was right to be suspicious.

"Because you are amusing in your own way", he chuckled. And then went for the kill. "And because I want to learn more about humans as well. And since you're right away the only one I know who wouldn't just mindlessly attack me until I knock them out cold, you're also my only candidate".

"W-What does that mean?".

He huffed in annoyance. And then they said _he_ was the dumb one. Really, he couldn't make it any clearer. "It's dangerous for me to sneak into Beacon just like this. I came to see you... to _warn_ you", he whispered into her ear, and almost frowned when she blushed and shuddered. _'Seriously? Now?'_. "Somehow, you managed to stumble on me twice already, your taller redhead friend thrice. I'll admit that our meeting wasn't something I had planned... but I'm intrigued by your will to fight on. You well know I could easily rip off all your limbs and leave you here to bleed out, or carry you into the Emerald Forest and feed you to the Grimm piece by piece, maybe while whistling a happy motive".

Ruby began to tremble.

 _'What's with her?'_ , he thought, exasperated. _'Mum and Dad jokes like that all the time, and sometimes they aren't even joking'_. "And yet you continue to fight. As I said, I'm intrigued", he repeated, smirking slightly. She flinched, and he closed his mouth. "Why do you do that? Why do you put your lives at risk, when you don't even know if I'm up to something evil or not?".

"Because you're a Grimm!", Ruby fiercely retorted, glaring at him. "Grimm are the incarnation of Darkness! And we will fight you as long as we live!".

"And what if I prove you I'm not as evil as you think?", he hissed, not menacingly but grinning.

She closed her mouth with a loud _click_.

"I'll follow your movements", Noir continued with a tiny smile. "And I'll prove you I'm not evil. You don't have to do anything. You just have to sit down and enjoy the show".

"And what tells me you won't try and kill us all?".

"Are you dead?".

The question caught her off-guard. "W-What? N-No, I'm n-not...".

"Then, if I haven't killed you yet, and you're literally defenceless in front of me with no means to escape, why should I kill you later?", he shrugged. "But enough talk. Let's allow actions to shine and show my true goals".

He chuckled at his own grand statement and let her go, unfolding his wings from around them. She seemed surprised by her sudden release, even more so when he stepped back, allowing her to escape.

 _'Just man up and do it'_.

 _'Shut up, Dad!'_.

He gave her a small smile and bowed.

 _'Do it! She's right here!'_.

 _'I can't do that! Dad, stop talking!'_.

Straightening again, his smile now slightly strained, he gestured to the door.

 _'F#ck, just to it!'_.

 _'...Dad, did you just said `#`? I... I'm not even surprised any more'_.

She took a cautious step towards the door.

 _'Soleil Noir Callows! Do it!'_.

 _'Dad, your advice is the worst, just above Mum's and Cinder's... sometimes'_.

He stepped aside to let her reach the door, and she warily passed him.

 _'Why can't you follow your psychopathic father's advice, for once? Please!'_.

 _'Argh! Shut up, Dad, or I call Aunt Cinder!'_.

Ruby reached the door and turned to give him a last wary glance.

 _'Pretty please? Pwease?'_.

 _'You're unbearable!'_.

The starshine danced on her skin like a white fire, and the moonshine was reflected in her eyes, two twin pools of seemingly endless liquid silver...

 _'Kill her, you idiot!'_.

 _'Sorry, Auntie'_ , he thought, inwardly cowering at hearing Cinder's voice in his head. Idly, he made a noted to himself to go see a psychiatrist for all the voices in his head.

Taking her by surprise, he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling back close to him. And then, before she could scream or do anything, he finally followed Tyrian's advice for _almost_ the first time since he entered Beacon. Of all the advices he had gotten, his father's wasn't at the top. Uncle Hazel held that title. Still, there were times when even Tyrian's advice would be good. Like this.

Wordlessly, he pressed his lips to hers.

He could still hear perfectly well her gasp of shock, but it didn't count any more. She had kissed him first, so he was perfectly allowed to return the gesture, so to be even. In anything, her gasp made her open her mouth, an opportunity he _obviously_ and _immediately_ took, keeping her lips parted by slipping his tongue in her mouth and gently nudging her own. She tasted exactly like he remembered, a mix of strawberry and roses, with an aftertaste of chocolate. Idly, he wondered if she tasted of chocolate because she ate cookies regularly, or if she had eaten so many she had actually started to taste like one, too. But in the end, it didn't matter. What mattered was that she tasted absolutely _great_.

Now he just had to wait for her to respond.

He didn't have to wait long. For what felt like hours, she just stood still, her beautiful eyes closed, not responding at all. It felt very awkward to nudge and play with her tongue without her own response, but in the end he was rewarded by a very slight shudder in her frame. And then finally, _finally_ , she began to push back, wrapping her tongue around his and playing with it, slowly bringing her arms up to circle his neck. It was incredibly cliché, her arms around his neck, his own surrounding her waist, but to him it felt like heaven. Completely giving in to the moment, Noir pulled her closer, moaning again. He simply couldn't help it.

The icy hole in his heart didn't melt as much as evaporated as if exposed to a thermonuclear fission. In that instant, he didn't care if his mother was a heartless bitch, the source of most of the evilness of the world, Mistress of the Grimm, or if his father was a psychopathic murderer, a serial killer who had kidnapped, raped and murdered hundreds of people, or if he had time and again been driven on the verge of suicide for the lack of affection he and his sister had suffered all thorough their childhood. All what mattered was that Ruby was kissing him.

Ruby was kissing him.

 _Ruby_ was kissing him.

Ruby _was kissing_ him.

Ruby was kissing _him_.

 _Ruby was kissing him_.

He thought he could be excused if in that moment he inwardly cackled maniacally like his father did at least forty-seven times a day.

Ruby was kissing him.

He was kissing Ruby.

Screw the rest of the world, time and again if necessary. He could now die happy. No one of the kisses he had with his sisters had ever been that good. So, either his sisters were awful at kissing and Ruby was awesome at it, or the fact that Ruby was kissing him meant something important to him. Exactly what, he didn't know. What was important was that...

 _Ruby Rose was freaking kissing him, Soleil Noir Callows, Prince of Darkness, Bane of Humanity, Commander of the Grimm!_

Breaking the kiss, but only after a whole couple of minutes of healthy making out, he grinned at her, who was staring at him with heavy-lidded eyes. "Now we're even", he whispered, removing his hands from her hips and stepping back. "I suggest you to go fetch your weapon: people will ask".

"I really hope to meet you again soon, my lady".

With one last bow, he stepped back and let himself fall from the edge, smirking when he heard her gasp. Quickly spreading his wings, he dived and disappeared behind a building...

...

...

...

...just in time to crash face-first with about the same force as a diving Nevermore straight into another building. Then he proceeded to fall to the ground with a brand-new headache.

He pouted all the way back to his dorm.

 _ **Having wings doesn't always mean knowing how to use them.**_

 _ **Anyway, here is a small Omake I wrote:**_

Protective Instincts

Team RWAN and Team VYBL had just come back from a second `Grimm game`, as Nora put it, and almost everyone was dirty, tired and irritable.

"Well, that was _Grimm_ ", punned Yang, earning glares from everyone else. "What? I'm trying to lift the morale".

"The Grimm Knight could lift the morale higher by screaming like with Team DRGN", drawled Blake.

"Hey! My puns are masterpieces!".

"Sure", everyone's sarcasm was as thick as a wall and just as hard.

They were walking through the courtyard, and getting weird looks from everyone. Eventually, everyone wished good rest to everyone else and the two teams separated. Team VYBL disappearaed almost immediately, probably with Nora leading them to their death. She _was_ the Harbinger of Doom, after all.

That left the Bronze Hoplite, the Snow Angel, the Red Reaper and the Redeeming Star. They were all thankful the day was over, and they wouldn't have to put up with any more crap. They were already tired enough.

They should've known not to taunt Fate.

"Hey, loli, how's doing that ass of yours?", asked Vero Tear, a first year student and certified asshole, slapping a hand on Ruby's butt and snickering. "Still firm, eh?".

What happened immediately afterwards then became a legend in Beacon.

#####

"Mr Tear, are you awake?".

"Ugh... yes", he said, sitting up in the infirmary bed. "What happened?".

"Apparently, you sexually harassed a student in front of the wrong person", replied Professor Goodwitch, a severe yet amused expression on her face.

"LET ME KILL THAT MOTHERFUCKER!".

"ME TOO!".

"Yes, Mr Arc and Ms Xiao Long seem to be quite protective of young Ms Rose", commented the woman.

"What happened?", he said. "I don't remember".

"Well, it wasn't exactly Mr Arc's doing _entirely_. He punched you hard enough to send you flying into the Emerald Forest... after that, it was the Grimm's fault". The woman coughed meaningfully. "Apparently, all the Grimm of the Emerald Forest gathered to keep us away... they only let Ms Xiao Long pass. All the while we heard your screams, together with Ms Xiao Long's roars and someone else's laughters. This third person is still unknown to us. We took what was left of you and cloned your genes to recreate your body".

"I HAVEN'T FINISHED WITH HIM!".

"I'M GONNA RIP HIS HEAD OFF AND STUFF IT UP HIS OWN ASS!".

"Is it too late to reconsider my choice of attending Beacon?", fearfully asked the boy.

"I fear it is", replied the woman with a sly smirk. Then she got up and left the infirmary.

Three seconds later, two enraged teams charged into the infirmary.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Guess who's back~_**

 ** _Finally a new chapter, after seven of Trail of Blood. Don't worry, I haven't stopped this fic. I'm having a bit of trouble with finishing Hellbent's fourth chapter, but that's another story... literally._**

 ** _Anyway, enjoy the chapter._**

"Remnant to Ruby, repeat, Remnant to Ruby. Ruby, please, respond. Remnant to Ruby, respond".

The small crimsonette shook her head and glared at Yang, who was smirking down at her. "What do you want, sis?".

"Oh, nothing, you've just been staring off into nothing with a smile on your face", she snickered, and then leaned closer. "Did Jaune make a move already? How bold".

"W-What? No!", sputtered Ruby, her cheeks immediately crimson red. "Yang, no!".

"What?", grinned the blonde. "I'm just wondering if Vomit Boy needs to be given the `Ruby is off-limits` talk".

"Pretty sure he could just shrug you off", mumbled the younger girl, returning to look at her plate. "Anyway, he's got nothing to do about this... but speaking of him...". She glanced at the boy, who was wearing a smug half-smirk as he happily ate his breakfast. "Does he still blame himself for what happened in the Forever Fall Forest?".

Yang, her teasing smile temporarily lost, glanced at the boy. "A week ago, I swear, he looked on the verge of depression. Today... he's kinda like you now. Passively happy".

Ruby's expression drifted back into a little semi-demented smile as her gaze became unfocused. Her fork stopped picking at her food, instead hovering mid-air as her hand stopped moving. A second later, she cutely tilted her head sideways as she remembered what had happened a week prior.

 _'He tasted soooo good...'_ , she smiled. _'Plus him crashing into the building was sooooo adorkable... I hope he's okay, though, that must've hurt'_.

"You're doing it again".

"What!? No! I'm not! I'm...". She trailed off until she got an idea and stuffed an entire potato in her mouth. "iffinf". Translation for the ones who do not speak Mouthfullian: `eating`.

Yang did not buy it, just like any sane person would've done in her place. Instead, she began observing her little sister carefully, trying to make out exactly _what_ had happened. It must've happened a week prior. Team RWAN had told her she had gone for a nocturnal walk around the school and had returned with a far too wide smile on her lips. Like, a smile wide enough to threaten her to cut her head in two horizontally. It was just _that_ wide. So she eyed her sister suspiciously, maybe in case she glanced at a certain boy, so for her to know who she needed to kill.

She absolutely had no idea she wouldn't be able to even tired out the responsible.

Ruby's face was normal, or at least the new normal. She had begun to treat her hair better, and she took a shower twice a day, first in the morning and then in the evening. She had begun to have daily, or rather nightly, walks around the school, but nothing suspicious about that since the rest of her team had followed her once and they had seen she walked alone all the time. Her eyes, that she had time and again heard boys call beautiful spheres of silver, shined more than normal, and she wore a tiny bit of eyeliner, something that was unheard of. When Yang had asked, she was told she was borrowing Weiss's, Pyrrha's and Jaune's make-up kits. Jaune had then defended himself saying that growing up with seven sisters does make some habits normal. Well, at least she knew why Jaune was always so clean, and his hair looked almost as good as hers.

Almost. He would be dead otherwise.

Ruby was, overall, acting quite normally. She just zone out at times, a smile reaching her mouth and a frankly dumb expression painting itself on her face. Sometimes she would bring up a hand and curl her hair around a finger absent-mindedly, an action that hadn't gone unnoticed by the students of Beacon who preferred girls, males and females alike, since Ruby _was_ not just cute and pretty, but also beautiful. In a different way from Yang, or Blake, or Pyrrha, or Weiss, or Nora. She was beautiful in her own way. Also, her beauty did not rely on her body like her sister's, but more like on her eyes, her features and her behaviour. While Yang often gushed over how cute her little sister was, she wasn't overprotective for nothing. There were _reasons_ , or rather a reason, she kept Ruby as far away from interested people -boys and girls alike- as possible.

It was because Ruby _was_ one of the girls of Beacon who could make heads turn, and fast.

Yang was really worried about that. Ruby, just like her team, hadn't let anything leak, so she wasn't sure if her little sister had really found someone, but many of the signs were there. And while Ruby was very good with Crescent Rose, she wasn't the best. Also, in hand-to-hand combat she absolutely sucked. She simply didn't have the strength for it. Unbelievable, since she fought with a scythe that was larger than she was, but it didn't matter in the end. Also, she would know if Ruby was having a relationship with someone she shouldn't have been in a relationship with. She _always_ knew. It was her big-sister-duty to protect her purity from all the ill intentioned people in the world. And even though Yang had given her first kiss at thirteen while Ruby was already fifteen, almost sixteen, she wouldn't let her little sister be defiled like that.

Even if that meant having to fight against the whole school.

"Anyway, Ruby, I was saying...". She trailed off as she noticed the redhead had drifted back into her state of daydreaming. Wondering if she could take advantage of the situation, she leaned in and whispered into her ear. "Was he good?".

Ruby beamed at the void and her eyes sparkled even if they were unfocused, and then tilted her head sideways as if recalling something. And recall she did, apparently, since she then closed her eyes and hummed in delight. For Yang, it was already confirmed, but then the girl opened her mouth and spoke in a dreamy and unfocused tone, making her listen carefully. Maybe she would get the name of whoever had defiled her sister.

"Mind your own business~", sang Ruby, her dreamy poker face not cracking one bit.

Yang snorted in annoyance as she realized she had just been played, and had now no way to be sure any more. Her doubts remained, of course, but she wasn't strong enough to just beat every male in the academy. Every male, and everyone else interested in girls. If her books were anything to go by, Blake was into both genders, for example. But as soon as she learned who was the unfortunate student who had dared lay a kiss on Ruby... they would be oh so dead. Ruby wasn't allowed to be in a relationship until said relationship was confirmed and backed up by true feelings. Yang didn't want Ruby to end up like Taiyang ended up with Raven.

"Anyway, I was saying the others and I are going back to your dorm to play truth or dare again", repeated Yang, and Ruby's eyes focused on her, snapping out of her fake daydream. "No kiss like last time, but we'll come up with something. Like, I don't know, shout something embarrassing out of the window, or wear a dress, or do something else embarrassing".

"And... when are you doing this?", asked Ruby, fighting to not go back to daydreaming at the word `kiss`.

"Oh, well... right now".

#####

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen to...".

"Yang!".

"...the second edition of Yang's Truth or Dare Final Rematch. I am Yang Xiao Long, your supervisor and director for the night. Now, here are the participants".

"Ruby Rose, fifteen, my cute little _still pure_ sister. Weiss Schnee, seventeen, heiress of the Schnee Dust Idiocy... I mean Company. Jaune Arc, seventeen, our knight in shining diamond armour _who is so very dead if he's done what I suspect_. Pyrrha Nikos, seventeen, four times Mistralian Champion, whose fame won't help her against our daring requests. Lie Ren, seventeen, very quiet... and that's all. Nora Valkyrie, seventeen, very energetic _and definitely terrifying when saving Ren for herself_ girl. Blake Belladonna, seventeen, the only girl in the entire academy to wear a bow. And finally, Yang Xiao Long, seventeen, strongest fighter ever, sexiest girl in the entire world, certified pun-maker master and overall extremely badass, whose hair is the best, by the way".

No one was surprised by Yang's introduction of herself, although Ren did frown inwardly at his very brief description. Very quiet... mah. More like he didn't waste words when they weren't needed. It wasn't his fault if it was very rarely his words were needed. He just disliked wasting words. He had a limited amount of time in Remnant, after all. It wouldn't do to waste time speaking words when they were unneeded. The others already filled the world with enough useless words.

Outwardly, his expression did not change one bit.

"So, are you all ready to start the fun? Are you ready to answer our questions and submit to our requests? Are you ready to face the humiliation of failure?". Without waiting for an answer, Yang flopped down on the floor with the others and grinned. "Then let's start! Is there anyone who wants to dare and be asked by me, or do I have to choose by myself?".

Absolute silence was her answer. She could swear she could hear Professor Port rambling on with one of his stories somewhere in Beacon, but that might've just been her.

"My choice then! Jaune Soleil Arc!", she exclaimed, and the knight flinched. "Truth or Truth... I mean, Dare?".

"Truth?". He shivered as he imagined what Yang might have him do.

Yang's smile turned evil, but her eyes were dead serious. "Have you kissed my little sister?".

"Ehm... y-yes?", he stammered, blushing. A second later, he found his Aura straining to keep him from being killed by Yang. "W-What?! I-It w-w-was your idea! Ouch! Ow! Ren's dare! Ow! IT'S REN'S FAULT! Ow!".

Yang gave him one last punch before turning to the resident ninja of her group. Blake might've argued she was a ninja too, but in Yang's mind she was more like a stealth assassin or something like that. Her clothes were too kinky to be a ninja. Ren's, on the other hand, were very ninja-like.

Instead of staring into pink eyes, she found herself staring into what could only be called her own premature death or, in other words, Nora defending her Ren. And while Ren still hadn't noticed, there was a very _solid_ reason why he had never had other girls approaching him. Said reason was short, with assets that could rival Yang's, with a very big hammer, a very evil grin and stormy turquoise eyes that were more terrifying than a Grimm's. Said reason went by the name of Nora Valkyrie in this reincarnation.

Yang was furious. She had just received the confirmation Jaune _had_ defiled her little sister, and _Ren_ had been the one to egg him on. What else did he suggest the two of them to do? Wandering hands? Cuddles while sleeping? Or, she didn't even want to _think_ about it, _sex?_ They were going to pay. She would give the room a new nice paintwork with a pretty crimson shade. Yang was enraged, and there was nothing that could stop her now. She had trampled hordes of Grimm, and sometimes even other students, while angry, and her anger would find a way to vent. She would kill the two. She would kill the motherfucker and the Rubyfucker. The second in a much more painful way. Yang would have her revenge.

Yang stopped.

Without bothering with words, Nora simply shook her head, and just like that Yang's anger realized that even the gods eventually try to fight something that is stronger than them and die. Her anger died against Nora's baleful glare like a high wave against the cliffs: with much noise and with an impressive spray of droplets, but without even scratching the rocks. Yang's fury wasn't _completely_ mindless. While she would absolutely charge in while facing a far stronger opponent, Yang's fury could recognize one thing.

Her fury could recognize when it was time to yield immediately.

Hanging her head in defeat, Yang lowered her fists and Nora nodded in satisfaction. Behind her, Ren sighed in relief. He had used his Semblance to keep himself calm even while facing his death by angry Yang, but now he was safe. So far, nothing had gone past Nora while she was defending him. There was a reason Nora was still undefeated in the ring, except by Pyrrha and Jaune. Those two won for different reasons. Pyrrha because of her training and her Semblance. Jaune because of his training and his simply monstrous fitness and Aura. She had actually managed to defeat an opponent, once, with a single blow. It had hurt even _seeing_ it. Obviously, it had struck the poor boy's crotch, and had sent him to the infirmary for a surgery.

"Yes, Yang, Jaune did kiss Ruby, and you were there to witness it", said Nora, and her tone was a no-nonsense one. Now they could see why the Headmaster had made her the leader. While she _was_ cheerful and a tad crazy, she had a serious vein underneath. "Remember? Our last truth or dare, and Ren dared Jaune to kiss the one who would've exited from the bottle spin. And Ruby was the lucky one".

Yang's memory finally kicked in and she closed her mouth with a _click_. "Oh", she replied, not having anything more intelligent to say, and then winced when she realized she had just attacked the most powerful of the first years without a reason. She would be getting her ass handed to her in the next match between them. She was sure of it. "Sorry".

"Your ass is gonna hurt so badly after your next match with Jaune", commented Blake with a smirk, happy to be able to tease her blonde partner for once, and not be teased back. Yang gave an embarrassed laugh before crashing back on the ground and gesturing Jaune it was his turn.

"Very well then... Ruby?", began the boy, saying the first name he thought of. "Truth or Dare?".

"Truth", replied Ruby, who was fairly experienced with the game, and knew _never_ to say Dare.

"Mmh... mmh... mmh... mmh... mmh...", hummed Jaune, caressing his chin with his hand to try and think of something. "Why did you choose a scythe as your weapon?".

Ruby lit up and Yang facepalmed. "Oh, because I wanted to make it as cool as possible and what's better than the weapon of Death and it's also red and black so it's even cooler plus my Uncle Qrow fights with a scythe too and it's even cooler and sniper rifles just like big guns are so very cool and I liked the thought of flying with the recoil and I like the way Crescent Rose cuts through the Grimm like butter and I like swinging it around or charging with it with my Semblance and...".

"Okay, okay, Ruby, it's fine, your turn", interrupted Weiss. Jaune was too busy listening to her to realize she was kinda rambling. "Choose someone to ask Truth or Dare to".

"Oh, well, since you asked...", she grinned slyly. "Weiss Wind Wave Schnee! Truth or Dare?".

Weiss's eye twitched at being called by her full name, but she endured it and sighed. "Truth".

Ruby's sly grin would've frightened a Beowolf, but first she needed to ask her sister's advice. "Yang, psst psst psst psst psst, do you think I can ask that?".

Yang had grown redder and redder the more Ruby whispered, but then gulped and nodded, shooting a side glance at the Ice Queen and kinda pitying her. Ruby smirked evilly and turned to Weiss, who flinched defensively. "Very well, Weiss, this is a question worth of my sister. How do you like boys? Large or small? And most importantly, how large or how small?".

Everyone went atomic red at that, even though Yang already was, Blake and Jaune almost passing out for the shock. Weiss gaped openly, her mouth forgotten hanging, her jaw on the ground a few floors below. "W-What?", she stammered, and when Ruby just smirked, she gave a very nervous laugh, trying to distract them all, but they were all too focused on her to notice. "I-I... I guess f-fitting... I mean... I-I w-w-wouldn't l-like t-to hurt m-m-myself w-while doing _i-i-i-i-it_ ".

Ruby grinned for a second before a perfectly innocent face came to her face, and she tilted her head sideways in confusion. "What do you mean? It? I mean... what size are you talking about? Do you like boys as tall as Jaune, as buff as Cardin, or maybe someone more like Russel, short and thin?".

Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but then Ruby couldn't take it any more and burst out laughing and holding her stomach, howling hysterically in mirth. Weiss growled and activated her glyph, creating a large ice crystal over Ruby and letting it fall on her head, stopping her laugh and turning it into a frown.

"Very well then... Ren?", asked the Ice Queen with a smirk. "Truth or Dare?".

Remembering Weiss's last Truth, Ren cautiously opted for the other choice. "Dare".

"I dare you to rip your shirt off and sing Macho Man in front of everyone. With the music and the dance, of course", she smirked, and he blanched. "But... you can choose a partner to dance with _different than me_ ".

Jaune volunteered himself by raising his hand and Ren nodded. Both of them took off their shirt, and had then to put them on again before _ripping_ them off, for the joy of Yang. Then they began to dance and sing, both of them moving coordinately, in the little space that wasn't occupied by the girls. Jaune was actually good at it, since he hadn't had much to do back home and so had just practised with a bit of everything. For example, his pepperoni pizza was to die for. Ren, instead, had never really practised dancing, but he was holding his own quite nicely. Of course, it didn't help the fact that every single one of the girls was laughing her lungs dry.

After a quick break where the two boys fetched two more shirts and put them on, much to Yang's disappointment, the game was back on. Ren thought about it for quite a few seconds before turning to Blake. "Truth or Dare?".

The girl's eyes flickered to Weiss, and she wisely chose not to let Ren have his revenge on her for what Weiss had asked him to do. "Truth".

"Very well, Blake. Those books of yours. What _really_ are? Are they the raunchiest pieces of hardcore smut with many exotics inserts and many different `flavours` and `tastes`?".

Everyone looked at Blake, who turned redder than a Grimm's eyes and nodded in shame. Ren smirked and gestured her it was her turn. Despite having teased her relentlessly about them, not even Yang could say something. She had just been told her partner and roommate was a hardcore smut reader. The black-haired girl coughed meaningfully before turning to Nora. "Nora, Truth or Dare?".

"Dare!", she chirped happily.

"I dare you to kiss Jaune".

"Blake~", sang the redhead, a large grin on her face. "Why don't you go and have a nice orgy with the teachers? You seem the type to enjoy being punished for being a naughty girl~".

Everyone gaped at the girl, who had never said something like that. Blake's book fell from her limp hands and she couldn't even blush in her shock. Then Nora sauntered over to Jaune and gave him a light kiss on his cheek before trotting back to Ren's side and grinning at everyone. "I'm hyperactive, not dumb. Now, Ruby, Truth or Dare".

...

...

...

...

"Ruby?".

"Uh... oh! Ehm... Truth!", finally replied the girl, jumping at bit at being called. "Truth!".

Nora smirked. "I'll go easy on you", she laughed. "Did you copy your homework for history class?".

The crimsonette relaxed. "Yes, from Weiss", she nodded, and Yang noted how Weiss didn't even seem surprised. Probably she had already given up. "Well, Pyrrha, Truth or Dare?".

"Dare", replied the champion, eager for a good challenge.

"I dare you to... to... to wrong one of us and _not_ apology for it!", she dared, and everyone glanced at Pyrrha with pity. Apologizing was second nature for her. First nature too.

Pyrrha gulped and took a few deep breaths before nodding in defiance. "I think that Yang often acts like a whore by shamelessly flirting with everyone without any thoughts on how embarrassing it is for us. I think she totally deserves the annoyance of hundreds of boys thinking she'd be an easy lay since she flirts so shamelessly. And I'm totally not sorry for what I've said".

...

...

...

...

...

"Okay, Pyrrha, you can apologize now", nodded Ruby, and Pyrrha fell to her knees.

"I'm so sorry!", she cried, burying her face in her hands. "She dared me! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'M SO SORRY!".

"Jeez, P-money, get up", wheezed Yang, still frowning for what she'd said. "I'll think about it, okay? Though, you _could_ have found something less... extreme".

"I'm sorry!", repeated Pyrrha, and then she wiped the tears off her face. "Well... I... Yang? Truth or Dare?".

"Dare!", smirked Yang, ready for something big.

"...can you forgive me?".

Everyone face-faulted.

"Uhh... I guess I can?", replied the blonde and then cringed when Pyrrha looked at her in alarm. "I mean, I _definitely_ can! Ehm... distraction! I mean, Ren! Truth or Dare?".

"Truth", he said cautiously, knowing well enough to spot a threat where there was one.

"How big are you?", Yang asked with a smirk. Nora shot her a very dangerous look, but Ren was faster and smiled slyly, not before having glanced at Ruby for inspiration.

"I'm five feet seven inches, thank you very much, although I fear I'm not as buff as Cardin", he responded with a smirk before looking at Jaune. "Truth or Dare?".

"Dare!".

"Very well, I dare you to challenge Cardin in a match and wipe the floor with him", said the ninja. "I know you already proved him you can beat him, but Nora needs some leg breaking from time to time, and I'd like those legs not to belong to any of you. She'd never break _my_ legs".

#####

And that was how Jaune found himself fighting Cardin. _Again_.

The bully had agreed just out of pride, of course, stating the last time had been a lucky match. Jaune hadn't really understood how could one beat someone else so thoroughly and be called `lucky`. The bully was the lucky one to still have bones in his body and not jelly.

With a lazy sidestep, he avoided Cardin's incoming mace and let it crash on the ground. From the public, ten people were watching. Namely, their teams and Team VYBL. Nora was chanting her usual song of `break his legs`, and Ren was chanting alongside her, but with much less enthusiasm. Ruby and Yang were cheering him on excitedly, while Weiss, Blake and Pyrrha were much more proper and wished him good luck. Cardin's team, instead was shouting things like `Come on, it won't hurt much`, `You will get out of there alive!`, `We've already booked a bed in the infirmary, don't worry!` and `He's out of your league, but don't worry: he's kind and he won't kick your ass too badly!`.

Needless to say, Cardin was very angry and very nervous at the same time.

Jaune deflected the mace with his sword and slashed at his opponent, making his Aura drop considerably. In his Grimm form, he would've likely engaged the bully in a non-stop close-range series of slashes with his katars, but Crocea Mors was built to keep a bit more distance. Before the bully could raise his mace again, Jaune reached out with his free left hand and grabbed his ankle, making his eyes go wide.

"Not agai...", began the boy, but before he could finish Jaune had already smashed him into the ground. Then, much to CRDL's chagrin and everyone's amusement, he began to literally drag him back and forth in a sweeping motion. Groans of pain and humiliation were coming from the boy, and Jaune almost pitied him. Almost. He'd been the one to agree to the match, even though Yang might've forced his hand a tiny bit by promising him, in case he won, a strip-tease from all the girls of Team VYBL and Team RWAN. The others were scandalized, of course, but that got Cardin to accept faster than light. And, Jaune had to admit it, Cardin was also fighting better than the last time. Unfortunately, he still was a student against a Half-Grimm Half-Faunus hybrid with monstrous strength and stamina, wielding a blade crafted by one of the most skilled scientist of Atlas and the _Queen of the Grimm_ herself.

A few minutes after, Ren called the match, saying that the dare had been fulfilled, and thus humiliating Cardin even more. The three teams split and made their way to their dorms, with VYBL and RWAN wishing each other goodnight while CRDL wished them ill. Not like they cared.

 ** _Yep, The Hitchhiker's Galactic Guide quote._**

 ** _So... took me a while to write this because I'm trying to get the bad habit of writing 2-3k words off my style and instead writing 4-5k. Not better by much, but hey, I'm still sixteen, for Oum's sake! I'm not a professional writer._**

 ** _Anyway, I also wrote a small Omake to go with this chapter. It's not related to the last one, okay? It's not the prequiel. Believe me, it's not._**

 ** _..._**

 ** _Okay, it kinda is._**

Nora's bet

Team RWAN + VYBL were happily walking around in the Emerald Forest. The reason for said outing was, obviously, the short but strong leader of Team VYBL, who had dragged them there for a bet of hers.

"Listen", she said excitedly. "Whoever brings back the higher ranking Grimm _alive_ , wins the bet. Okay?".

#####

The bet had ended.

Ren and Blake had managed only an Ursa each, and they were soon booed by Nora for their lack of trying. Or, at least, Blake was booed. Ren was booped on the nose like usual.

Weiss brought an Ursa Major, and she was fairly proud of it, but Nora just scoffed and killed it on the spot, making the poor girl break into tears for the grave injustice. She had spent two hours trying to bring it back alive!

Ruby came running into the clearing with a very big Beringel, a gorilla-like Grimm, lumbering after her. She had apparently used bananas to lure him peacefully. Unfortunately, they needed to kill it later, but she made quite the impression.

Nora had wrestled and dragged a King Tajitsu with her, holding the white head. Of the black head, there was no trace, just a very ugly stump. It had probably been ripped off by a hammer blow from the hyperactive girl. Also, it had probably hurt like hell for the rest of the body.

Pyrrha surprised them all by rushing in with another ancient Deathstalker on her tail. She then lightly commented "I have experience with those, after all", with a smirk. Then the two teams killed it, but without anger. Nora and Pyrrha even thanked it for having offered itself to win the bet, and Pyrrha even apologized, but that was just Pyrrha being Pyrrha.

However, before she could be declared the winner, Jaune arrived.

A gargantuan shadow fell over them as a truly massive Grimm Wyvern landed in the clearing, and behind it Mt Glenn was clearly split in half. From his back, the familiar boy with a mop of blond hair and ocean eyes jumped off, landing in the middle of the clearing and smirking at the others, who had been shocked by the arrival of the Wyvern and now stood in stunned silence.

"So", he said cheerfully. "Do I win?".

And, just like they expected, they did sleep a good night.


End file.
